Kingdom Hearts: Dual Destinies Book 1: Scattered Light
by WolfieRed23
Summary: Giana and Liana's world fell a decade ago. Since then, they have fallen under the tutelage of the new Keyblade Masters, training to use the Keyblade themselves all while searching for their own world. But the Heartless have been acting strange recently and so the two of them and the eight other apprentices are trusted to investigate this new, unknown threat. SYOC CLOSED
1. Chapter 1:Opening and Prologue

**Hello everyone and welcome to the new, and improved, Kingdom Hearts: Dual Destinies! This story is, once again, a collab between myself and LegacyReturns and every chapter has a bit of both of us in it! **

**Now, I can't promise the updates will be quick or often, but we are constantly messaging back and forth, working on this story, so don't worry, this version WILL be finished!**

**Before I say anything else, this story has some changes from the original DD. First off, the twins are no longer Liliana and Miliana, we decided to change their names to Liana and Giana (yes, there's a reason for this). Second, this first chapter is almost nothing like the original first chapter of DD. Those of you who read my stories, The Light That Shines and The Light of the Heart, know I like adding the KH openings to the stories. Well...I found a song that fit this story and Legacy gave me permission, so now we have an opening as well!**

**The opening song is actually the opening for the game Tales of the Abyss and the Englsh lyrics belong to Jefferz on YouTube. Read it carefully, okay, it's just like any other KH opening.**

**Also! Since we decided we didn't want to dedicate a lot of chapter time to descriptions that just feel really odd to give, Legacy and I have created an encyclopedia in case you guys want to know what the characters and Keyblades look like in each chapter. I will update the two chapters of the encyclopedia for each chapter I post here with the new info, such as the OC's appearance in a chapter. All OC creators will be named there so it doesn't get too repetitive.**

**And to everyone who's new, I hope you enjoy! Sadly, the SYOC aspect is currently closed, and I don't know if it will open again. If it does, I will let you all know!**

**I think that's everything now...enjoy!**

* * *

**Opening: Karma**

* * *

There was nothing at first, all was darkness.

Then the sun began to rise and, with it, the surroundings were revealed. There was a single path that led in two directions. One led towards the rising sun, the other towards the fleeing stars.

In the middle of that path were two young women: Gia and Lia. While Gia faced the sun, Lia faced the stars and their backs were to each other.

Music began to play.

Suddenly, Mahir, Sari, Ryo and Marta surrounded Lia, grasping her arms as they smiled and laughed, to her silent surprise, and turned her around.

At the same moment, Alexina, Rickson, Maia and Jack pounced on Gia and swung her around just as her sister was, Gia's own surprise causing words to slip past her lips.

The two sisters and eight apprentices faced each other before they looked off the path and towards the field instead. Standing there, watching them all, was Aqua, Ventus, Riku and Lea, proud smiles, or smirk in Lea's case, on their lips.

As the music picked up, all fourteen of them transformed into balls with varying degrees of light and darkness and flew away.

_"Just one glass bead rolls away without a sound_

_Another one has fallen and it hits the ground_

_And soon there will remain only one_

_But that one sits in the sparkling sun"_

The Land of Departure came into view and standing in the courtyard was none other than the Guardians of Light, minus the four Masters.

Roxas, Kairi, Namine and Xion stood near each other, all of them staring at Sora who stood a distance away, his head bowed with guilt in his eyes. Xion was the closest to him, looking as if she was going to reach out, with the other three a small distance away, all concerned and worried. Light came off Kairi's skin, while darkness tinted with light came off Sora, Roxas, Namine and Xion's.

Terra stood apart from all of them, Ends of the Earth resting on his shoulder. His features were filled with remorse and firm determination as his hand rested on his heart and darkness mixed with light came off his skin.

All six vanished, becoming balls that had the light and darkness coming off their skin, and flew away, just as the Land of Departure became nothing more than a photograph, which fell to the black ground and smashed into millions of pieces.

_"My heart stops and I faded away_

_And none of us really knew what there was to say_

_Though silent and so lonely we still never went astray"_

From the darkness came a group of people, all hidden by the darkness. In the center of them was a woman, though her features were unknown.

The woman simply watched as the many lights flew around and scattered. She raised her hand and a single blast of darkness flew up and struck two of the lights, causing Lia and Gia to reform.

The twins were falling, much faster than they expected to and they reached out for each other, their hands grazing before a burst of wind sent them in two different directions.

_"Suddenly my soul and mind are unclean_

_Somebody just tell me what does this mean?_

_Before I start to doubt my own memories_

_My memories have turned their very back on me"_

Before the darkness could swallow them, however, the lights coalesced around the twins and reformed.

Riku and Kairi caught Lia and Gia, respectively, and the chains of darkness that had been surrounded the twins were banished without a thought. Gia smiled up at the Princess of Heart in gratitude while Lia simply leaned against her Master in relief.

Meanwhile, the apprentices and the remaining Guardians of Light were attacking the unknown darkness. Easily, they each found a partner and began to attack, Mahir with Alexina, Maia with Ryo, Sari with Rickson, Jack with Marta, Terra with Aqua, Ventus with Roxas and Xion with Namine.

And in the center of it all was Sora, charging at the woman hidden in the darkness with resolve in his eyes and light surrounding him. As his light came closer, two men were revealed at the woman's side, and when the light collided with the darkness, Sora vanished.

_"I will find you, and I know that I will see you soon_

_Our heartbeats synchronize and that will guide me anywhere to you"_

The darkness retreated and the Guardians of Light and apprentices returned to balls of light as well, allowing the twins to run to each other.

Before they could reach each other, however, light drew their attention and they turned only to see the backs of a paladin prince, a monk princess, a black mage, a white mage, a sage-in-training, a hunter chief-to-be and a bard huntress princess.

_"I am calling for you, can you hear my distant calls for you_

_These many questions pile up; I know that you must wonder too_

_Why are we here and what we can do?"_

The bard huntress turned around, revealing a woman with blonde hair highlighted with red and a familiar face. She reached a single hand out to the twins, spreading the light through the darkness, offering them a home to return to.

Both Gia and Lia reached out for her hand when they froze as the ground below them began to crack. Instantly, both twins pushed the woman away, back to the light despite the protests her mouth released.

The ground broke and the twins were airborne, their Keyblades summoned in flashes of light as Heartless began to attack them. Gia and Lia turned away from each other, trusting their backs to each other, as they fought in the air.

Neither noticed as they fell that they were approaching a mirror until they slipped into it.

_"In my reflection, our karma's easy to see_

_In these rough hands this karma seems so dark and dirty_

_But with these hands we're able to join together so now_

_I know where I have to go"_

Gia opened her eyes, only to see herself standing in a field full of pure white flowers. She smiled and spun around with her arms stretched out as the wind blew through her long silver hair, simply enjoying the beautiful day as the sun shone down on her.

It was then that she became aware of another presence standing behind her. Turning, expecting to see her sister, Gia smiled and opened her mouth in greeting, only to freeze as she saw a stranger instead.

Standing before her was a man with blonde curly hair and electric blue eyes. He smiled at her softly, as if she were the most precious person in the world to him.

Feeling a smile grow on her own face, Gia slowly walked towards the man as he extended a hand to her. It was all so peaceful and beautiful to her…

_"I will always be here just extend your hand and reach for me_

_Here in this spot of sunshine we are held eternally"_

Lia stood under a sky full of beautiful stars and in front of her was Ventus. Lia smiled softly at him, for her cowl was lowered, and began to step forward.

Ventus, however, stopped her, shaking his head with a soft, caring smile on his face before he raised his hand and pointed behind her.

Turning, Lia's eyes widened as she saw a mirror and through it was Gia with a man, a complete parallel to her and Ventus. Without a second thought, Lia placed her hand on the mirror and yelled, reaching for her sister.

_"Promise you'll remember that I'm calling for you always_

_Inside this little glass bead that has fallen down and rolled away"_

Gia turned at her sister's voice and ran towards the mirror without another thought, to the relief of Lia. Gia mirrored Lia's actions in grasping the mirror and it broke, leaving the two sisters clasping hands, light and darkness mixing beneath their palms.

_"I will never forget, for I know that we will meet again_

_Our goals and our ambitions seem like they will never reach an end_

_We can end this if we just focus and run"_

The balls of light once again surrounded the twins, supporting them as the Guardians of Light and apprentices reappeared, Keyblades at the ready as they all faced a rising tide of darkness.

Releasing one hand, Lia and Gia turned towards the tide as well.

They could not make out who was leading the darkness, but that didn't matter. The Keyblades began to glow with light as silver and green light began to surround the twins.

In unison, the Keyblades were pointed towards the darkness as the twins raised their final clasped hand, a wave of light rendering the darkness useless.

For the last time, the apprentices, the Guardians of Light and the twins became balls of light, the twins smiling at each other as they faded.

_"Finally then, we will become one, one"_

Out of the light, the Land of Departure reformed and the balls of light returned to their human forms. The apprentices pounced on the twins, congratulating them, hugging them, teasing them and laughing with them. Smiles spread across Gia and Lia's faces as they looked up.

The Guardians of Light were smiling at all of them proudly, but even behind them, in the sky, Gia and Lia could see their parents, their family and everyone they had started their journey with smiling down at them proudly.

The twins smiled up at them and clasped hands once again, their fingers intertwining.

* * *

_Kingdom Hearts: Dual Destinies_

_Book 1: The Scattered Light_

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

**Location: **Agrabah - Bazaar

The Arabian sun beat down on the bustling city of Agrabah, making the gold accents of the palace shimmer brightly. Unlike the royal family, keeping fresh under the shade, the peasants and working class were mercilessly stricken by the harsh sun. Two figures walked along the clay roofs, both of which were draped in black coats. They were an odd pair to look at: one was tall and thin while the other was short and rather curvy. The shorter one was feminine in the way her hips swayed with each step she took and her black heeled boots only bolstered that femininity.

Suddenly, she threw off her hood, revealing a head of long silver hair, and whined, "Lea! This thing is too stuffy! It's like five thousand degrees out here and we're dressed in all black!"

The man quickly whipped around and pressed the palm of his hand in her mouth, causing her to muffle in protest.

"Gia!" he hissed. "Keep it down, will you? You know we wear these things so we can use the Corridors of Darkness. It's a lot quicker than using a gummi ship."

"I know, I know. But can't we get, you know...shorter darkness repelling outfits for this kind of stuff? Like maybe a black shirt and shorts."

"These things don't just grow on trees, you know. We had to trim down Larx- I mean Elrena's- just so…"

"Just so it can fit me. I _know_. I've only heard it a hundred times." She grumbled at the end and crossed her arms before letting out a "hmph!"

While she was busy sulking, Lea grabbed the hem of her hood and pulled it over her face. "And how many times do I have to tell you to keep the hood on? We're supposed to keep a low profile. Jeez, we may've gone over this stuff a hundred times but it feels like it never gets through your thick skull."

"Hey~!" she whined. With each of her following words, she stomped hard on the roof she stood atop. "Don't. Touch. My. Hoooo!" With a powerful step, she broke through the roof and plummeted into the room below. There was a loud thud accompanied by a symphony of shattering pottery. Then there was the sound of a man screaming.

"Here we go," Lea said with a sigh. He hopped down from the roof and walked into the small building through the front door to find Gia laying in a pile of broken pots and gourds. There was a large hairy man yelling at her and waving his fist around in the air. Suddenly, he grabbed Gia's arm, placed it down on a table, and reached for a knife that was tucked into his sash. Lea's hand flexed and in a flash of whirling flames, a chakram formed. He tossed it with all his strength towards the man's hand, knocking the knife away, and immediately rushed him by planting his boot into his bearded face. Gia felt Lea's bony fingers wrap around her wrist as he pulled her out of the room. The chakram stuck in the wall disappeared into flames just as quickly as it appeared, leaving the peddler alone in his shop. When the man came to, he rushed outside and scanned the area for Gia and Lea but they were gone, lost in the crowd like two grains of sand in the desert.

Lea kept looking over his shoulder as he pulled Gia through the bustling bazaar. They rounded a corner into an alleyway where less people were walking by. That's when Gia yanked her arm back and said, "I'm okay to walk on my own now."

"I sure hope so!" he snapped. "What was that?! Your little tantrum not only broke some poor guy's merch but it also called _unnecessary_ attention to us. It's always the same thing with you! You don't get your way so you break something or you hit someone or you start yelling and our cover gets blown so we have to evacuate! When will you learn?!"

Gia stared up at the man with her large blue eyes in disbelief. Her eyes began to tremble, her lips quivered, and her eyes became watery. "Don't start," Lea said firmly. Gia began to sniffle as the tears overflowed and spilled onto her cheeks. "I'm serious, Giana!"

"Y-you didn't have to y-yell at m-e like tha~t!" she said as her eyes and nose ran.

He repeatedly said, "No!" as he looked around at the people passing by. "Gia, stop crying. People are looking." He groaned in frustration, "Come on! That's not fair." Gia continued to cry, causing more of a commotion than Lea was comfortable with so he finally resigned to defeat. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, just shut up!"

"You're still being mean!" she said with a squeaky voice.

Lea took hold of both of her shoulders, looked her square in the eyes, and said, "Gia, I'm really sorry for yelling at you. I was wrong and I shouldn't be snapping at you just because you made a mistake."

Gia's crying slowed down to sniffles as she asked, "D-do you mean that?"

Lea took a deep breath through his nostrils before nodding and responding, "Yes, Gia. I mean it."

She swallowed the clump of saliva in her throat and nodded as she said, "O-kay."

Under his breath he mumbled, "It's hard to believe you're twenty-one when you don't act like it." He then spoke at a normal volume, "We should find a better spot to do some recon from," he said as he turned around and looked for a secluded area. As soon as his back was to her, Gia wiped her tears, leaving a mischievous grin stretched across her face. "Come on," Lea said as he started forward.

"Wait up for me!" she called.

When they exited the alleyway, they heard a man shout, "Look over there at the two in black! That must be them!" Gia and Lea turned to find a pair of men each with a large cream-colored hat and a sword at their hip. "After them!"

"Those are guards. We better skedaddle."

"Why? We can take them."

"These guys are just doing their job, Gia. We're not in the business of hurting innocent people."

Lea turned back around to go through the alleyway but a few more guards were coming their way from that direction as well so he led Gia deeper into the bazaar away from all of the guards. They turned a few corners and finally found a completely empty alleyway where Lea was able to open a Corridor of Darkness. They both ran through the portal which took them to a rooftop before closing right behind them.

Gia collapsed onto the ground and rolled to a stop on her stomach. The leather from her coat stuck to her sweaty skin and her breathing was difficult to control. Lea too was exhausted but he could still stand on his feet. He was already used to the temperature inside the coat from his time in Organization XIII many years ago. The redhead got down to a knee to look Gia in the eyes and asked, "Gia, are you okay?"

The young woman's eyes were hazy and she was clearly struggling just to breath so Lea reached under his coat and pulled out a canteen for Gia to hydrate herself. She weakly took it from him and began drinking it all at once.

"No, Gia. I won't need any," he said sarcastically. She managed to shoot a death glare his way before repositioning herself to sit down on the toasty roof.

Lea stood up and said, "Take off the coat now. The sun will feel hot but you'll be able to breathe a little better. I'm going to head down to finagle some Agrabian clothes for us so we can move around a bit more comfortable. Wait here. I won't take too long, okay?"

Gia nodded as she started unzipping her coat to slip out of it. Her eyes were still hazy and it was hard for her movements were sluggish. When she managed to get the coat off, she laid her back on its inside.

As Lea looked down at her, he added, "I should go get us some more water too. You look like you need it."

Between breaths, Gia responded, "Spring...not...tap…"

Lea just rolled his eyes and opened a Corridor of Darkness for himself, leaving Gia alone on the roof. She just closed her eyes and gave herself a moment to rest, not even noticing when Lea left. After a few minutes, she had gotten bored from waiting so she decided to take a look at the people down below, hoping to find Lea on his way back already. Nothing interesting was happening down on the ground either, much to her disappointment.

"Stupid Lea making me wait here on my own," she grumbled to herself as she laid on her stomach with her coat underneath to protect her from the hot roof. Her coat was only slightly a step up, though.

Gia noticed that there were quite a few maroon pots scattered throughout the area, so she began to count them to herself. While doing so, she noticed a pair of children, a boy and a girl, walking up to one of them. The boy pulled the girl by her hand and was pointing to the pot. They both began tapping on the pot only for it to move slightly on its own. Gia's eyes narrowed as she watched them intently. The boy seemed to be more curious than the girl about whatever was inside so he had the girl help him up so he can lift the lid and take a look inside. As he peered his head inside, the pot sprouted four spider-like legs and tilted itself to make the boy fall in. The girl screamed as she ran away, leaving the boy inside the pot which shook around until finally stopping still. Gia watched in horror as the boy's heart rose from the opening into the air.

Anger fuming inside her, Gia summoned her keyblade, Faerie Whytkin, in her hand and gripped the hilt with all her strength as she dropped down to the ground. She fell straight down so she could push herself off the building and land more comfortably, though the scorching sand still burnt her arms. She winced slightly from pain but pressed forward and swung her keyblade at the Pot Spider. The monster's shell cracked on impact, exposing part of its real form inside as it backed away from Gia. Unfortunately for the woman, there were many other maroon pots nearby, each with its own Heartless inside and when one of their kind was struck, the rest rose to attack. Within seconds, Gia was surrounded by a tight circle of Pot Spiders but she thought quickly and looked up for some sort of ledge to grab onto. There was a balcony close by so she cast Aerora on herself which pushed all of her enemies away slightly, but also sent her flying upward, which was what she planned. What she did not plan for was that her spell kicked up the sand on the ground, getting some in her eyes. She reached up for the ledge but grabbed too early, instead hitting her fingertips against the clay wall. Knowing that she would just fall back down, Gia started reach out with both hands for anything to grab and she was able to latch onto small clay ledge that poked out from the building.

She was safe out of reach from the Pot Spiders but the nearby people were not so they set their sights on the defenseless people. Unable to see, Gia had to endure the screams that echoed all around her as she hung there, clinging to her own life. She could hear the sound of swords clanging against hardened clay, alerting her that the guards had arrived to fight the monsters. She was relieved until the sound of men screaming rang in her ears.

"Gia! What are you doing?!" Lea shouted.

"L-Lea? Is that you?"

"No, it's Mushu. Of course it's me! What are you doing?"

"Just hanging in there," she said, trying to lighten the mood. She then sighed and said, "I messed up big time, Lea." She spoke incredibly fast as she explained, "This Heartless stole a kid's heart so I attacked it but there were others and they surrounded me so I used Aerora to get away but I got sand in my eyes and now I can't see so I can't land and I can't fight and it's getting really hard to hold on so help me please!"

"Okay, just let go and fall back. I'll catch you."

Gia let out a deep breath as she said, "I guess I have no other choice but to trust you." She released and braced herself for and impact with the ground. Instead, she felt her upper back and the back of her knees connect with Lea's arms. He set her down so she could wipe her eyes.

"Here," he said, handing her the canteen. "I managed to get some more water. Hurry and rinse your eyes so we can go take the Heartless out."

"I'm going as fast as I can!" she said as she flushed her eyes. Gia could still feel a grain or two stuck but it was bearable enough to fight. She blinked several times to adjust her vision but before she could fully regain it her sight was eclipsed by a set of robes that Lea found for her.

"Put that on," he said. He was already dressed in similar robes with his own keyblade in hand. Gia quickly did as instructed and followed Lea into battle. Up above, a number of hearts were already floating into the sky, which only added pressure.

Lea and Gia both ran toward a group of Pot Spiders and bashed them in with their weapons. Lea's Fire Strike technique was able to completely slice through one of the Heartless. He quickly followed his attack with a Fire Surge, scorching two nearby Pot Spiders with the ring of fire. He turned and called back to Gia, "Hey! Hit those two behind me where I cooked them. The pots are weaker there!"

Gia nodded and hit them where he told her to, manage to crack through the clay on her first strike to one of the Pot Spiders and then pierce through the Heartless itself on her second. She then swung her keyblade at the second enemy, hitting it hard enough to strike the core inside. Unknown to her another Pot Spider was quickly approaching her but Lea intercepted it with a firaga from afar, causing the Heartless to explode instantly. Gia turned around and shielded her eyes from the heat when she could see again, she noticed a sandy blonde woman standing on top of a roof in the distance. Everyone else had ran away from the area, including the guards, but Gia understood that she was probably just curious. She did not seem distressed though. She stood tall and proud with her hands behind her head, as if she were studying the two keyblade wielders.

"Gia! Focus!"

Gia turned to find a couple other Pot Spiders heading right towards her so she rolled out of the way, slashing at one as it passed by. She looked up at the woman again only to find that she was gone. Suddenly, two of the Pot Spiders were surrounded by a dark aura which completely consumed them. When the darkness faded, the Pot Spiders seemed to have morphed into blue insect segments. The head segment flashed its antennae, calling all of the Pot Spiders to it so it could form a Pot Centipede. Now joined together, the train of Heartless rushed Lea with its electrically charged antennae flailing about. Lea was able to dash out of the way but the tails whipped him, leaving a large wound on his stomach.

"Lea!" Gia called out as she ran to protect him from the Heartless, which was circling back to finish the job. Noticing the electricity coming from the antennae, Gia thought of a strategy. She pressed her fist to her chest and channeled almost all of her remaining magic into a summon. A spark of electricity formed in front of her before whirling all around the two Keybade wielders and taking shape as a small yellow energy creature. "Sparky!" Gia called cheerfully. "Snack time!"

The summon's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the approaching electricity source. His own antennae generated a surge of electricity between them and a tail of lightning formed trailed behind as he flew forward. Sparky circled the Pot Centipede's head, sucking in the electricity, before flying up in the air and unleashing a vicious bolt of lightning down on the Heartless. Half of the pots and the tail segment faded away into clouds of darkness, leaving just the head and a few more segments. Gia closed her eyes and cast aerora around herself, once again launching herself into the air. Once she felt the pull of gravity calling her back down to Earth, her eyes flung open. She lifted the Faerie Whytkin high above her head and dove down onto the pot centipede's head, slashing through it in one clean swing. Sparky took care of the remaining pots before fading away into sparks.

Gia collapsed onto the ground and allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. That's when it occurred to her. "Lea!" She pressed the tip of her keyblade into the ground to support herself onto her feet. She then reached into one of the pouches on her lower back and pulled out an ether, which she quickly drank to replenish some of her magical energy. It was enough to pour the warm green energy of a cura spell into Lea's wound and shut it.

Jade eyes flickered open, sending waves of relief through the girl. Lea said, "Can't a guy get a little rest here?"

Gia groaned, "You're lucky I'm so compassionate."

He chuckled, "That's one thing you won't let me forget."

"I see you got it memorized."

Lea couldn't help but chuckle at her joke but a sharp pain at his side stifled him. He groaned in pain as he clutched his stomach and rolled onto his good side.

"We should get out of here, Lea. Mind being a gentleman and opening the door for a lady?"

"I don't see any around," he teased as he pushed himself to stand. "Mind helping me put mine back on?" Gia nodded and quickly helped Lea into his black coat before running off to retrieve her own. Once they were both fully dressed with their coats, they found a secluded alleyway to escape through a corridor of darkness.

* * *

**Location: **Agrabah - Ruins

The dark corridor took Lea and Gia to an uninhabited section of the world, a location with many toppled ruins. There, they both sat down to rest under the shade of a large pillar.

"Thanks for the save, back there," Lea said. "Doesn't matter how many times I encounter danger out here. Any day could be my last."

"Lea…I'm not lucky enough to get rid of you that easily. You'll probably outlive me."

He chuckled and again, clutched his chest from the pain. "Maybe...I think it's time we make a call to the others. This is the sixth world in a row where heartless have sprung up and each time, a stronger one appears. Kinda like the boss in a video game."

"If only things were that simple and clean," Gia said with a sigh. "So what are you going to tell the other masters?"

"That it's time to start taking a serious look into whatever is going on." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a red and black Gummiphone. He dialed a number and then looked down at the screen while the device rang in his hand.

A young man with wild blonde spikes flaring from his head appeared on the screen. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ven!" Lea answered happily. There was a bit of strain in his voice.

"Hey, Lea. Everything okay?"

"Hi Master Ventus!" Gia said gingerly as she tried to get her face in the frame.

Ventus chuckled and said, "Hello Gia. It's good to see you're both alive and well."

"Alive, yes. But well? That's why I called you. I don't know if you guys over there have noticed, but here on my end, things have been getting a little hectic, if you know what I mean."

Ventus furrowed his brows and tilted his head. "I can't say I do. Are you saying that there's trouble brewing?"

"Well I can't say how bad it is for sure but it seems like we might have a problem on our hands. Gia and I are seeing numbers were don't typically see. And it isn't just quantity, the quality of baddies is getting worse too."

"I see. In that case, I think it might be time for you and Gia to come back home. I'll let Aqua and Riku know."

"Sure thing, pal. We'll see you in a few."

Gia's eyes brightened with excitement as she squealed, "Am I going to see Lia and Silva?!"

Ventus laughed and said, "I'll leave you to handle that." The screen turned black, leaving an exhausted Lea to deal with an excited Gia. The battle they just endured had no effect on the woman. She was back on her feet, shaking with anticipation.

"Open up a dark corridor already, Lea!"

"Alright! Alright!" he said. "Geez, the least you could do is help a guy up to his feet." The man opened a shadowy rift, which Gia ran into. With a sigh, he followed behind her, limping as he did so.

* * *

**And there we are! Completely different, eh? In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed and leave a review to let us know what you think! And if we missed anything (such as saying Lili or Mili instead of Lia or Gia), PLEASE let me know so I can fix it.**

**Welp, I think I've exhausted everything now, so this is where we say bye!**

**May your heart be your guiding key!**


	2. Chapter 2:The Twins Reunite

**Hey, yeah, you guys from the original remember the original chapter 2? Yeah...this is a completely reworked version of that. In any case, we're back, everyone, and I hope you're ready! Legacy and I have actually had this chapter finished for a while, but we wanted to work on the next chapter a bit before posting this one and we both have real life responsibilities to attend to as well. Sadly, I can't say when the next chapter will be.**

**What I CAN say is that both myself and Legacy are, probably ridiculously, proud of this chapter. Back when I wrote the original chapter 2, I didn't yet have my full list of OCs nor did I understand all of them as well as I would have liked to. Now, I feel like I have a strong grasp of these characters and so the foreshadowing I had planned for the original DD can now be moved to much earlier in the story than it originally was or planned to be. Plus there's also the opening hiding all sorts of other foreshadowing (in case some of you missed it ;))**

**Anyways, thanks to Antex- The Legendary Zoroark (Thanks so much for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the last!) and ShadowWolf223 (I'm glad you liked it, I was so proud when I came up with it, considering how clear I imagined it!) for reviewing, all 3 followers, 3 favorites and 60 readers!**

**Now, for a correction: last chapter, I said that the encyclopedia would be gaining a new chapter for each chapter posted here. That is not true anymore, as I've discussed it with Legacy. There will only be one encyclopedia chapter, which I will update with new info for each chapter. For example, after this chapter, all the OC profiles will be added to the encyclopedia as well as new Keyblade info. Also, when Gia wears a new outfit, for example, I will add that to her specific profile with the specific chapter she's wearing it. I hope that makes sense and sorry to everyone who wants to review the encyclopedia, but now can't unless they're on guest! I should've figured that out with Legacy sooner than I did. It's my bad.**

**In any case, that's all I have to say for now. I'll see you all down below with some trivia! Enjoy now!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Twins Reunite**

* * *

**Location:** The Land of Departure - Forecourt

During the years after Xehanort was defeated, the Land of Departure had become a seat of power for all Keyblade wielders. The castle that sat at the summit of a mountain, anchored to other mountains by its glimmering golden chains, served as the home and school for new apprentices. Those who oversaw the training of these apprentices were the current Keyblade masters: Aqua, Ventus, and Riku.

Currently, five of the nine apprentices that lived on the Land of Departure were gathered in the courtyard, along with the sole two year old. Standing on the edge was Alexina, the newest recruit of the nine. She was still not used to the vast range of mountains that surrounded them. Where she came from, there was only one large mountain which she had been taught to worship. Now residing above the townsfolk was something surreal to her.

One of the other apprentices snapped Alexina out of her thoughts when she beckoned a boy named Ryo. "C'mon, Ryo! Train with us!" Maia pleaded as she attempted to drag Ryo to the center of the courtyard where the others were playing a game of some kind. Alexina could see Marta standing by a net with a ball in her hands and little Silva right next to her, happily chatting with the dreamy girl, though what their conversation topic was, Alexina didn't know.

"I-I don't th-think so, Maia…" Ryo stuttered as he effortlessly dodged Maia's attempts to capture him.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad!" Mahir said with a grin as he trapped Ryo in a headlock. "Master Ven created this game just for us!"

"B-but I don't see how it helps with training!" Ryo protested as he fruitlessly attempted to escape the other boy's grasp.

"I agree." Alexina spoke up, attempting to get the attention off of the obviously uncomfortable Ryo. "How is hitting a ball back and forth considered training?"

"It's good practice for hitting moving targets." Marta answered, a dreamy smile on her lips, as she held up the ball, which Alexina now noticed was decorated like a Heartless. "The Heartless and Nobodies can be unpredictable. Master Ventus said that we have to be creative with our training."

"I see…" Alexina nodded thoughtfully.

"Plus it's a lot of fun!" Silva happily piped up before she crossed her arms and pouted. "But Mommy says I can't play with you guys."

"You will when you're older!" Mahir grinned as he finally released poor Ryo and bent down so he was eye level with the little girl. "And by that point, you'll have seen us play so much, you'll be an expert!"

"Really Mahi?" Silva smiled at the dark skinned young man.

"Really really!" Mahir grinned, ruffling the little girl's dark brown hair as she happily cheered.

"Will you join us, Lexi? Please?" Maia turned on Alexina, her eyes large like a puppy's as she drew the gladiator's attention.

"L-Lexi…?" Alexina repeated. She flinched from surprise.

"Come on, it's not that bad." Mahir smiled as he stood up, picked up a wooden sword and held it out to Alexina. "Using a Keyblade is no different than using any other type of sword so the more you get used to swinging one around, the easier it'll be when you finally get your own Keyblade."

As the sole apprentice without a Keyblade, Alexina felt her cheeks burn. "I know how to use a sword. Alright." She agreed with a nod.

"Yay!" Maia grinned brightly as she stopped badgering Ryo. Silva joined the cheering too, before she ran to Ryo's side so she was out of the way.

"Alright! Then Ryo and Silva, you can keep score, okay?" Mahir grinned.

"S-sure…" Ryo agreed as his breath finally evened out and he easily picked up Silva to carry her towards the small toy scoreboard. Alexina reasoned that Mahir may had used more strength than intended.

Now with enough players, the four Keyblade wielders each took their respective positions on either side of the net. It was Mahir and Maia against Marta and Alexina.

"It's her first time playing so let's let Lexi go first," Mahir said to Marta. She nodded and then promptly tossed the ball to her teammate which Alexina caught with ease in her left hand.

"How do I hit it?" she asked as she raised and lowered the ball's altitude, unsure of the proper form.

"Like this," Marta said as she pretended to toss a ball in the air and hit it with her sword.

Alexina nodded as she got into her battle stance. She stood sideways with her feet parted at shoulder-length. Her knees were bent slightly and her sword was at hip level. She planted her left foot forward but took a moment to adjust it until she deemed it proper. When she was ready, Alexina tossed the ball into the air, high enough that everyone had to look up - Mahir and Maia shielded their eyes from the sun for a second. Mahir whistled to emphasize how high she had thrown it up. Once the ball reached its pinnacle, it started to drop quickly but Alexina smashed her sword into it with perfect timing. The ball flew into the net and returned to her so she rolled out of the way.

Mahir and Maia erupted into laughter, the former even stooped down to his knees because of his laughing frenzy. Alexina picked herself off the ground and dusted her clothes with her hand. She then shot daggers at Mahir and Maia. She was pretty sure she could hear Silva laughing and clapping her hands behind her too, but she didn't dare look.

Marta approached her and said, "Don't take it personally. Those two are just being silly and Silva's just a toddler. They don't mean any disrespect."

Alexina understood, but still felt embarrassed. She looked over at the laughing duo with a determined look. She was going to show them she could play the game right and win. "Alright, Marta. Ready to-" That's when she turned around to find Marta with her head down. Her eyes widened with frustration as she said, "Marta, now's not the time to fall asleep!"

Mahir ducked underneath the net as he made his way towards them, saying, "That's just something you're going to have to get used to with her. She might be asleep, but she's not useless." Mahir thrust his sword at Marta who simply shifted slightly to the left and raised her right arm to avoid the jab. "She's still partly with us but I don't think she'll be able to continue training."

"Oh, Ryooooo~" Maia said eerily.

The young man whipped around to find the ruby-haired girl standing right behind him. "Ah! How did-? Where did you-?" He looked back and forth from Maia to where she stood before. Maia just giggled in response as he started running. She began chasing after him again around the net. Thankfully, he had already set Silva back on her feet. Unfortunately, that meant the little girl joined in chasing him, thinking it all a game. "Come on, Maia, I don't want to play."

"Just try it!"

" L-leave me alone."

"Pleeeease?!"

"I have chores to do!"

"Yeah, all of a sudden."

"Play, Ryo, play!"

"Yeah, listen to Silva!"

"Not fair! She's a kid! You can't use her against me!"

Mahir laughed at them and Alexina unknowingly began smiling. That smile faded when she saw a Corridor of Darkness appearing in the corner of her eye. Without warning, a silver haired young woman ran through excitedly. Alexina's body moved on its own, closing the distance within seconds. Before the silver-haired woman could do anything, she found a wooden sword pointed at her neck.

"Don't move." Alexina whispered threateningly. "Or you'll see that I don't need a real weapon to dispatch an enemy." The woman met Alexina's eyes, her own blue eyes becoming hard, like ice. Suddenly, a whirlwind formed around Alexina, lifting her high into the air.

"Well that takes care of that," The woman said confidently with a smile.

Alexina was aggravated by this woman's audacity and trickery. She recovered in the air and with pinpoint accuracy, tossed her sword down at the stranger, who narrowly dodged it by jumping back. Alexina then reached for the xiphos at her waist and came down on the stranger. The silver-haired woman dodged again and summoned her Keyblade to block the brunette's next strike. To the stranger's apparent surprise, Alexina had a lot of power behind her swing, easily managing to break through her defense. Alexina charged forward with another swing, but only sliced through air.

The girl staggered and blinked her eyes, taking a moment to realize what had just happened. Once she did, her face lit up, to Alexina's confusion, and she turned to see a woman with an uncanny resemblance to her, except for her emerald green hair. A light blue cowl covered the lower-half of her face, but Alexina recognized her easily after living there for three months..

"Lia!" The stranger shouted excitedly, startling Alexina, before embracing the oldest apprentice. Lia smiled behind her cowl and returned the hug.

"Really, Gia? You couldn't have given us some warning before you charged here?" She asked.

"Sorryyy~, I thought Master Ventus would tell you all!" The young woman, Gia, whined, _whined_!

The Corridor of Darkness closed behind a red haired man, who captured everyone's attention by saying, "To be fair, I just got off the phone with the guy, Lia."

"I'm Gia!" the silver-haired woman snapped at him.

"Oh that's right!" he said insincerely as he slapped his forehead. "It's just that when the two of you are right next to each other, it's difficult to tell you apart. Anyways, good to see you, _Lia_." That time, he addressed the right twin.

"Gigi! You're back!" Silva screamed in delight as she stopped chasing Ryo and instead charged at the woman.

"Ahhh! There's my little Sil!" The woman, Gia, grinned as she bent down and swept the little girl into her arms before spinning her in the air. "Have you been good?"

"Mhm!" Silva nodded firmly.

"Master Lea," Lia addressed him with his title and bowed in respect, turning all eyes away from the woman and child. The other apprentices, even the sleeping Marta, did the same. Alexina was...horribly lost, but once she saw everyone else bow to Lea, she followed suit.

"Well, I gotta say, it's good to feel a little respect every once in a while. Speaking of which, why aren't you bowing?"

Gia turned away and responded, "Why should I? It's just you. Besides, I'm holding my little Sil right now! She's more important!"

Alexina and Ryo shared a look of shock, both thinking the same thing. Even in their short time there, never had either of them seen an apprentice speak to any of the masters with such disrespect, but here Lea was laughing at it instead of correcting her.

"Gia, you really should show Master Lea some respect," Lia advised. "He is your personal master, after all."

"Nah, he's just a big hot head."

"Hot head?!"

"Careful, Lea. Your Hades is showing," Gia teased.

Mahir and Maia laughed along with her, having heard stories of the ill-tempered god from Olympus and Lia smirked and rolled her eyes at her sister, but Ryo still looked lost and a little uncomfortable. It was Alexina who had heard enough and finally spoke out, "How dare you speak so disrespectfully about an Olympian, you sacrilegious little imp!"

"Little?!" Gia shouted. Lia quickly grabbed Silva from Gia before her twin dropped the little girl.

Both Gia and Alexina got into their battle stances, but Lea, Mahir, and Maia all summoned their own Keyblades, ready to intercept. Lia joined in after gently placing Silva down on the floor. She stood face-to-face with her sister, giving her a look that ordered her to stand down. Lea and Maia got in the middle as well and Mahir prepared one of his spells, most likely Bind. Ryo's eyes darted back and forth, unsure of what would happen next or what he should do.

"Geez, this sure isn't the welcome party we were planning," Ventus said as he made his way down the stairs that led to the castle. His hair was shorter than it was in his youth and he now wore ceremonial white robes with gold symbols around the black collar and sleeves. He was accompanied by Riku, who wore a more combat-oriented outfit that made him look like some kind of huntsman.

"Everybody, put your weapons away," Riku ordered. Without a second's delay, all of the Keyblades disappeared. "Stand by," he said to them without taking his eyes off of Lea.

"What do you mean it's not a welcome party?" Lea asked sarcastically. "We were just about to hit a piñata."

"What? They filled your hollow head with candy?" Ventus teased. Gia tried to keep herself from erupting into laughter but her hands could only do so much to muffle her voice. Some of the other apprentices wore some cheeky smirks of their own.

Riku cracked a smile as he told his peers, "You two really know how to break the ice." He then went in to hug Lea. So did Ventus right after.

The blonde put a hand on Gia's shoulder and said, "Good to have you back, Gia."

"It's good to see you again, Master Ven."

"Uncle Ven! Pick me up!" Silva demanded, holding her arms out to her uncle.

"What did your mom say?" Ventus teasingly scolded her.

"Please?" The little girl added and the blonde master happily picked her up, briefly tossing her in the air before bringing her close again.

Marta began to yawn and stretch out her arms, letting everyone know that she was awake. She looked around and asked, "Huh? What's going on?"

"I'll explain later." Maia whispered, to which Marta nodded in agreement. This seemed to be a common situation with the sleepy woman.

Riku turned towards Mahir, Maia, and Marta and said, "You three are already familiar with our visitors, correct." They responded with nods. He then turned to the two newest apprentices and continued, "Alexina, Ryo, this is Master Lea. You haven't seen him around, but he is a Keyblade Master just like the rest of us. He doesn't come here often because he and his apprentice, Giana, here-"

"Hi!" Gia said quickly with a cheerful wave. That is until she looked at Alexina and her smile dropped.

Riku continued, "...travel the various worlds to deal with any forces that threaten the balance between light and darkness. Now if you will all excuse us, Master Lea will return with myself and Master Ventus to meet with Master Aqua regarding his most recent report. We will fill you all in afterwards. Until then, continue your training as you wait to be assigned another mission."

"Master Riku," Lia began as she bowed to him. "With all due respect, may Gia and I attend the debriefing?"

"Whaaaa~?! But Lia, I wanted to go into town to get some pastries from that little bakery in the plaza!"

"Don't you think that this is more important?" Lia said with narrowed eyes. "Especially considering what I've heard about how your past few missions have been going."

"Oh come on, it's not _that _bad!" Gia protested.

"You fell through a roof in Agrabah." Lea threw in.

"And my sister doesn't need to know that!" Gia hissed as she whirled around to her master. The redhead nonchalantly tossed his arms behind his head in response.

Riku smiled at the twins and said, "Liana, you should spend some time with your sister. The other masters and I trust you to stand by our side during meetings like this, but it's not every day you get to see her. There will be time for the serious business later."

Lia nodded with her eyes closed and responded, "Yes, Master."

Riku offered her a gentle smile as he turned around to walk back to the castle.

"You stay with the others, okay, Silva?" Ventus told the little girl in his arms.

"Yes, Uncle Ven!" Silva nodded before she kissed his cheek.

"Good girl." Ventus smiled, kissing her cheek right back before he set her down. Silva then quickly made sure to wave at Riku and give Lea a high five before she ran towards the apprentices happily.

Riku then stopped by Alexina and told her, "Master Aqua will discuss with you regarding your impulsiveness."

"Yes, Master Riku," she said with her gaze low. She found herself unable to make eye contact with him. Riku, Lea, and Ventus all walked up the stairs and into the castle, leaving all of the apprentices alone in the courtyard.

For a while, there was a tense, uncomfortable silence hanging over the seven youth. Alexina looked like she wanted to disappear into the ground, but before any of the apprentices could say a word to her, Alexina bowed. "I should be going." She muttered and turned to leave without another word.

As she walked away, Lia shared a look with Mahir and she saw the same concern for the girl reflected in his eyes. Mahir, however, subtly shook his head at her. Now wasn't the time to confront Alexina about all of this. Lia quietly sighed under her breath, but nodded subtly in agreement.

"Say, Gia, weren't you just mentioning something about going into town?" Mahir said aloud, catching everyone's attention.

"Oh, yeah, you're right! C'mon, Lia, let's go! Please?!" Gia begged, clutching her sister's arm in a vice that she called her hands.

"I never said we couldn't. Come on, let's all go together." Lia said as she lowered her cowl, revealing her and Gia's identical features.

"Yay~! Ryo, you're gonna love the town, it's so cool!" Maia grinned brightly as she grasped Ryo's hand and began to drag him down the path they needed to take. "Come on, Sil!" She added as she grasped the two year old's outstretched hands.

"I-I've been to town, Maia! Hey! Don't pull me, or I'll-woah!" Ryo barely managed to catch himself as he tripped, to Maia's delight as she continued to pull him and Silva along.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Silva cheered, to Maia's delight as she just sped up, to Ryo's dismay.

"Wait for us!" Gia cried as she chased after the younger apprentices and the child.

"Yeah, wait up!" Marta chirped in agreement, only a few paces behind Gia. Somewhere along the way, the two young women started racing each other instead of attempting to catch up with Maia, Ryo, and Silva.

Just as well, Lia fell into step beside Mahir, the two of them walking at a normal pace compared to their fellow apprentices.

"C'mon, Lia, what's eating you?" Mahir finally asked, as she had known he would.

"Nothing, just...I feel responsible for Alexina and I don't want her to feel like an outcast, simply for reacting as she should have had Gia been a real enemy." Lia confessed.

"You worry too much. It's no different than how you reacted when I first came. If I remember correctly, I ended up on the floor with one of your ninja knives to my neck." Mahir chuckled as Lia's cheeks turned bright red at the memory. Of course, it was what happened _after _that which made Lia dislike that memory so much.

"I thought we agreed to never discuss that." She hissed at the young man.

"In front of others, yeah. But when we're alone, that's free game, Lia." Mahir grinned as he quickly dodged Lia's swipe at the back of his head, laughing as he ran ahead to catch up with the others. Oh, he knew Lia was going to kill him, but he also knew it was all in good fun. It was just how they were. Lia was the older sister he never really had growing up and teasing her like this was the best. Besides, she always gave back what she got and it was nice that the two of them, who were expected to be the role models, the 'big siblings' to the other apprentices, got the chance to relax when they were with each other, if nobody else.

* * *

**Location: **The Land of Departure - Town Plaza

In the three years that Lia had lived at the Land of Departures, and even in the seven years before she and her sister had been found after the Second Keyblade War had ended, the Land of Departure had become well inhabited. It had started as a plan proposed by Ventus to give aid to refugees who couldn't return to their home worlds and Aqua had encouraged it, saying it was something Master Eraqus would have wished for. Eventually, however, the town had grown to be open to anyone wanting to live under the protection of the Keyblade masters.

True to her word, Gia led the apprentices and Silva directly to a bakery that she enjoyed visiting whenever she came to visit. She came so often that the pastry chef lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw her. Somehow, between all of them, the group managed to get Ryo to relax a little and begin to enjoy himself.

"You're from an island?" Gia asked Ryo with wide eyes. "That must be like summer all the time!"

"Not really." Ryo said. "It's mostly just hot. And it means I'm not used to other seasons."

"Sounds more like my sandbox of a home then." Mahir commented as he stretched his arms, carefully balancing a happily eating Silva on his shoulders, a cookie based on King Mickey in her hands. "Agrabah is no picnic, let me tell you."

"I won't argue with you there," Gia threw in.

"It isn't _that _bad, guys!" Marta disagreed. "And the royals are all really nice!" she smiled, remembering her own time visiting Mahir's home.

"You got to meet the royal family of that world?!" Maia asked excitedly. "You're so lucky! The only royalty I've ever met is Mahir, our resident royal pain in the-"

"Maia!" Lia hissed. Her deep blue eyes darting back and forth between Maia and Silva. Luckily for Maia, the two-year-old did not notice as she was happily distracted, eating her cupcake.

"Oh…" Maia simply grinned and blushed.

"You've never met royals?" Gia asked. Maia shook her head. "Well, when Lia and I find out home world, we'll take you to meet royals. In fact, we'll take everyone from the Land of Departure there!"

"Whoa…" Ryo and Maia whispered in awe.

"You know royal family on your world?" Marta asked.

"Well, not to toot our own horn, but Lia and I are royals."

The others were left in complete bewilderment, which confused Gia. She knew that Ryo was new but the others had been at the Land of Departure for at least a year so she figured that Lia would have shared a little bit of their past with them by this point. The silver-haired woman looked over at her sister, who she just now realized had been silent the entire time.

Gia caught Lia biting the inside of her lip. She did that when she was uncomfortable, though most people would not notice because she usually had her cowl covering her face. The green-haired twin said, "Hey guys, so who wants to go to the library? There's a book I wanted to check out."

"Ok, who do you think you are? Belle?" Mahir joked with her.

"Better than looking like Beast," Lia shot back, which earned plenty of "Oh's!" from their peers.

"Pssh, you wish I was your prince," he said as he combed his messy black hair back.

"You can be Silva's prince!" Maia eagerly suggested. "She's our princess after all!"

"Yes! Great idea, Maia! You want me to be your prince, Silva?" Mahir grinned.

"...I'd rather Sari, she's prettier." Silva stated, entirely serious. This caused all the apprentices to crack up and Mahir, carefully of course, tipped back, as if the shock dealt him a blow, so Silva slipped off his shoulders and into Lia's waiting arms, to the little girl's delight.

Lia rolled her eyes as she stood up, adjusted Silva and asked, "Are you coming or not?"

"Sure, I'll lend you another pair of eyes," Mahir responded.

For the next several hours, the six apprentices and Silva ran around the town, acting like the young souls that they were rather than the soldiers they were trained to be. All three Masters often encouraged them to relax and take time off from training, knowing what it was like to have to be thrown head first into a war at a young age. The apprentices may have been young, but they weren't expected to carry the weight of the worlds, not like how Sora and Riku once had before they had found the other Guardians of Light.

"Hey, Lia." Gia said as she and her sister sat on the fountain in the center of the town while Mahir took the other apprentices and Silva through the pet store, with the strict warning to _not _buy the little girl a pet, less they anger Aqua. When the ninja hummed in answer, the summoner continued. "Have you gotten any further in finding anything about home? That's why we went to the library, right? So you could try and find anything about it?"

Lia was silent for several moments, her expression frozen. She turned to her sister, seeing the hope shining in Gia's eyes.

"Gia, I-" Lia started to say when a familiar ringtone went off and she took her Gummiphone out of her pocket. With an apologetic look at Gia, the ninja answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey," Riku said on the other end, smiling slightly. "Mind rounding up the others and coming back? We need to debrief all of you."

"Of course, Master, we'll leave right now." Lia nodded, easily slipping into the role of apprentice.

"Thanks, Liana. It's good to know we have you to keep the others in line. You'll make a great Master one day." Riku smiled proudly. Liana caught the hint instantly and turned bright red, attempting to hide her face in the strands of hair hanging in her face.

She wasn't very successful.

"Master..are you saying that-"

Riku teased her by cutting her off, "That I want you all up here immediately? Yeah."

"Yes, Master."

"See you then." Riku smiled and hung up with a good natured goodbye. Lia refused to meet her sister's eyes as she recovered her composure. _Somehow_, she managed to not give in to the urge to hide in her cowl and was soon on her feet, calling Mahir to get the others so they could head back.

Gia didn't say anything as they walked back, simply watching as her sister and the thief seamlessly slipped behind the masks of leadership that they were expected to be as the oldest apprentices and, most likely, the two who would soon be taking the Mark of Mastery exam. Though it was a bit disconcerting, watching her sister, whom she had known all her life, vanish behind the facade of a warrior and a protector, it also made Gia so very proud. Her little sister was growing up so fast.

Gia failed to notice that the spiky-haired apprentice, Ryo, had approached her. He shyly said, "Uhm, so I meant to say this earlier, but it's nice to finally meet Lia's little sister that I heard so much about." Ryo said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ryo, _no_!" Lia and Mahir shouted in wide eyed _panic _as Maia looked excited for the explosion that was to come. Marta did not look like she was going to intervene either since she was having a hard time staying awake as evident by the dreamy look on her face. Silva looked torn between laughing or running to avoid Gia's reaction.

Gia found no difficulty in waking Marta when she shouted, **_"I'm older than her! How is that not obvious to you?!"_**

"Uh, I, uh, w-well…I…"

_"Don't answer!"_

Thankfully, this time, Ryo listened to his senior apprentices. Maia giggled happily as Mahir led Ryo, Marta and Silva back to the castle and Lia took to calming her sister down, before they arrived and the Masters would all see her.

* * *

**Location: **The Land of Departure - Forecourt

Lia sighed in relief as they finally reached the castle again, grateful for her now calmed sister. All it took was a caramel apple from the candy store in town but then they ended up waiting for Maia and Marta to finish filling their plastic bags with sweets, and attempting to share a bunch with Silva which the ninja had to put a stop to instantly. Regardless, they were all back and ready for their meeting. Before she made it to the steps, Mahir suddenly grab her arm and pulled her to the side, hard enough that she stumbled into his side, glaring up at him.

"And what was _that_ for?" She demanded.

"Just wanted to share a little observation I made." Mahir shrugged. "Gia freely offered up that you guys are royalty in your home world, like it was no big deal. But you're not as open about your background and home world. I always thought that it meant that something really bad happened, but Gia doesn't seem all that worried."

Lia looked down, her bangs hiding her eyes as she slowly pulled her arm out of Mahir's loosened grasp. "Something bad _did_ happen. Gia just chooses to block out the bad stuff from our past."

Mahir's face softened as he apologized, "Oh...sorry, I didn't-"

"We don't have time to discuss this right now, Mahir. The Masters are waiting." She stated.

The thief was silent for several moments, trying to get a read on the ninja, but to no avail. Mahir let the green-haired woman go and followed behind her.

* * *

**Location: **The Land of Departure - Castle - Main Hall

The main hall inside the Land of Departure's castle was a large room with thick cream-colored columns on each side. There were gold accents all over from the rails to the edges of the walls and all around the windows. Most elegant of it all was the gold marble floor that was shined spotless. At the far end of the room were three thrones but the masters all stood in front of them, waiting for the rest of the apprentices to arrive since Alexina was already waiting patiently. When Maia's head popped out from the staircase at the opposite end of the room with the others following closely behind her, the masters all turned towards them. Now that all of the apprentices were present and lined up in front of them - with Gia intentionally avoiding Alexina - Ventus, Aqua, and Riku sat down from left to right in their respective seat with Lea standing at Ventus' side.

"Welcome back and thank you for joining us," Aqua said to them all. She wore a blue-gray ceremonial robe over her combat outfit, now sporting a pair of leggings. She retained all of the armored accessories that she wore in her younger days but her hair had grown to pass her shoulders and fell in waves with neat bangs framing her face. "I hope you all enjoyed your time in town because in our profession, we have to take the breaks when we can and unfortunately, now is the time to go to work.

"As some of you know from visiting other worlds, Heartless appear whenever a person's heart submits completely to darkness. Since Master Xehanort was defeated and all of the Keyholes were sealed, less Heartless have appeared across all of the worlds that we have visited and most of the Heartless that do appear have just been Shadows. Recently, Master Lea had begun reporting larger quantities of Heartless spawning and in the past few worlds that he and Giana have visited, there have been more powerful Heartless than what they normally encounter.

"We believe that this has something to do with greed spreading throughout the worlds and that the increase of Heartless spawning is tied to the case that Sari, Jack and Rickson are currently working on right now. For those of you who are not aware, we have three apprentices who have been following a trail of missing materia. With less materia available in a world for the moogles to harvest, less moogles appear in those worlds, which lead to less resources in that world, and that creates greed. Greed on its own can overturn civilizations but it can be a gateway to stealing and that can eventually lead up to murder. The more a person falls down that path, the easier it is for the darkness to consume them."

With the wave of her hand, Aqua effortlessly created a holographic map of the galaxy large enough for everyone to see. "This is our location," she said while pointing to a flickering dot on the map. She swiped once, causing the map to shift over, and then zoomed in to a world on the map. "Sari's team is currently on Rickson's home world, The Caribbean, which is in the Misty Stream. Just a few hours ago, she reported that they were able to procure a keychain that, when equipped, will allow them to locate materia more easily. According to her, when Rickson equipped the keychain to his Keyblade, his Keyblade was pulled in the direction of Montressor, in the Etherium." She swiped at the map, once again shifting it. "_There_ is a small artificial satellite, called Crescentia, that orbits Montressor and serves as its main port which is where the Keyblade is most likely pointing to."

Mahir raised his hand, asking for permission to speak. "You mentioned a port?" he asked.

"For Gummi Ships," Riku responded. "Many of the planets in that galaxy have figured out how to mine for gummi blocks and create ships sustainable in the lanes between. That galaxy is also well known for the abundance of interworld pirates so we have the suspicion that a pirate has been going around collecting materia and passing it through Crescentia."

Aqua nodded and said, "That's right. So tomorrow, we will be sending a team consisting of Marta, Gia, and Lia to go investigate Crescentia and see if there is any information that they can find regarding this case. Lia, you're in charge of this one."

Lia was in disbelief. She just stood there with a blank expression as Aqua looked back at her, waiting for a response. Lia felt a nudge at her side so she turned to her sister who was looking at her with a wide smile. The emerald-haired girl still had a confused look on her face so Gia gestured with her eyes and the tilt of her head towards Aqua.

"Oh! Yes Master Aqua," Lia responded.

Aqua chuckled slightly as she said, "Getting cold feet already, Lia?"

"No, ma'am," she answered quickly.

"Good. Sari's team should be meeting the three of you on Crescentia. Once you land there, call them to regroup and from there you will be expected to gather information on any top priority wanted pirates in the area. Rickson's Keyblade pointed in that direction for a reason. It's most likely because our materia collector is hoarding all of it somewhere around there. Be quick but be tactical in collecting the information you need. Is your mission clear?"

"Yes, Master Aqua," the three young women answered.

"Everyone else will remain here on standby and will be expected to be ready to depart to assist the others if the need arises. I fear that things are beginning to change in the World and we must be ready to fight at a moment's notice. That is all for now. I advise you all to go to your quarters and get some rest for tomorrow."

"Yes, Master Aqua," they all said in unison.

"May your heart be your guiding key," she told them all.

"And may your heart be yours," they responded. Gia was the exception. Instead, she looked over at Lea with eyes full of panic, having not been taught that formality. Lea merely smirked and shrugged in response, much to her annoyance. None of the other masters pointed Gia out so she felt a wave of relief wash over her. With nothing left to do, the apprentices all began walking together to their rooms.

"And where are you going?" Lea asked his apprentice.

Gia spun on the tip of her toe to face him but she was confused so she cocked her head to the side. "To my sister's room?"

"You seem surprisingly unsurprised to find out that you won't have yours truly to watch your back on this mission."

"Huh, you're right. Wonder what that's all about," she said with a shrug. "Anyways, I'll catch you tomorrow, Lea. Gonna go have some girl time with the sis."

"Gah! Are you serious?! You're not even interested in what your wise master will be up to during your absence from his side?"

"Wise master? Wait!" Her eyes beamed and a large smile stretched across her face. "Is Master Aqua finally going to be my master?! Ooh! What about Master Riku?"

The other masters laughed at Lea as his blood boiled with frustration. Finally, he stood up straight, turned to the side, and crossed his arms as he pretended to be nonchalant about it. "Fine, I guess I won't tell you then."

"Kay," she said as she turned back around and started walking with Lia towards the dormitories.

* * *

**Location: **Land of Departure - Castle - Lia's Room

"Ugghhhh, man am I jealous of you, sis." Gia sighed as she leaned back against Lia's bed. "You get to stay here _and _get this awesome room all to yourself, while I'm stuck with the hot head and don't even get a real bed!"

"Come on, this isn't all that." Lia disagreed, smiling in amusement as she sat down beside her collapsed sister, her eyes skimming through a stack of papers that she flipped through. "I mean look at all these entries you've made in your journal. You've seen so many worlds, while I've only seen half a dozen at most."

"Still, I like exploring and all, but some luxuries would be nice too!" Gia groaned, trying to bury herself into the bed.

"Princess…" Lia snorted, leaning against her headboard.

"And rightfully so!" Gia countered, pointing a finger in Lia's face.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few tense moments before they collapsed into laughter, Gia pushing herself up to lean against Lia's bent legs instead.

"I really did miss you though." Lia smiled softly, placing her hand on her sister's. "It's not the same, waking up and not hearing you have an enthusiastic conversation with _someone_."

"Same back to you. It sure isn't fun traveling around with the same person all the time. He takes all the fun out of it, not like what traveling back at home with mom and dad was like." Gia said while pulling a face to show her distaste.

"And yet there's no other master for you." Lia countered.

"I guess…" Gia sighed, overly dramatic. "But the same is true of you and Master Riku then."

"Of course." Lia nodded in agreement, playing with the chain she wore around her neck.

"You're doing better now, right? With getting your ninjutsu back to normal, I mean." Gia asked.

"A bit, but I still have a ways to go." Lia admitted, refusing to meet her sister's eyes.

"Well, don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it back before you know it!" Gia grinned, her belief palpable.

"Thanks, sis." Lia smiled, looking up a bit.

"Always!" Gia grinned, taking Lia's hand in her own.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, interrupting them.

"Come in." Lia called.

The door opened to reveal Ventus on the other side.

"Hey, good to see you two catching up," he said with a smile as he entered the room.

"Hi Master Ventus! Did you need something?" Gia asked.

"Yeah, we just finished working out the last few details on the mission for tomorrow. Riku asked me to come get Lia so they could train in the garden, just as a precaution." Ventus explained.

"Awww, fine." Gia whined before she whirled around on her sister. "You better do well, sis, we need you in top shape for this mission, okay?"

"Yes, Gia." Lia chuckled as the summoner freed her legs, allowing her to get off the bed and follow Ventus. "I'll be back late, don't wait up for me."

"If you say so." Gia sighed as she fell back on the bed once again. "Good luck and have fun!"

* * *

**Location: **Land of Departure - Castle Gardens

Lia made her way down the road from the forecourt until she reached the fork that would take her either to the garden area or down the mountain into town. She had not expected to do any training so late, especially the night before her first mission without Riku by her side, but her master was a rather diligent one who preferred to work than rest so this was not out of character for him. Lia stepped onto the cement walkways that cut through the dirt and ran throughout the gardens like veins in the body. When she reached the fountain in the center, she found it odd that Riku was not there so she called out to him, "Master Riku? Are you here?"

There was no response so she decided to wait for him. After only a few seconds, though, Lia felt someone's hand grab her shoulder so she whipped around, summoned Kiku no Kizuna in her right hand, and pinned him against a hedge with her forearm pressed against his chest and her Keyblade held against his throat. Her eyes widened when she realized it was only Ventus.

"Sneaking up on you is no fun," he said jokingly.

Lia's body relaxed as she rolled her eyes and made her Keyblade disappear. She asked him, "And when will you get that through that thick skull of yours? What are you even doing here? I thought Master Riku was to meet me out here." She crossed her arms and turned her body to the side, leaving her open to a hug.

"Aw, don't be like that," Ventus pleaded with her. He took hold of her waist, turning her to face him with ease. "Can you blame a guy for wanting to see his girlfriend before she leaves on her mission?"

A pink tint burned Lia's cheeks behind her cowl. Before she could react, Ventus had pulled it down and pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. Lia immediately pulled away and whispered aggressively, "Are you out of your mind?! What if someone sees us? We're out in the open." She looked up at his deep blue eyes, which relaxed her more with every second that she lost herself in them. They sparkled like sapphires when the moonlight hit them.

"You know that the only person that comes down here is Sari and she's still on her mission. Relax, will you? We're perfectly hidden by the hedges."

"Oh yeah? And what if my sister opens her mouth to somebody that Master Riku told me to come out here and it reaches his ears?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there?" He offered her a shameless smile.

"Ventus! I'm serious."

Ventus held his hands defensively and said, "Okay, okay. What's got you so worked up, Lia? Be honest. Is it the mission?" Lia looked down at the ground as she sat down on the edge of the fountain, remaining silent as she did so. Ventus joined her and placed a hand on her knee, which she did not swat away. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

She nodded and then placed her head on his shoulder as she slipped her fingers through the spaces between his. "It's going to be my first time outside of this world in three years. I don't think that Master Aqua made the right call by picking me. Sure, I've been an apprentice the lo-" She paused for a moment and then shook her thoughts away to continue, "for the longest, but Gia has far more experience in other worlds than I do. Even Marta has more experience."

"That's true but you're the most level-headed. We didn't make a mistake when we picked you to lead. Riku didn't say it just because he's your master and I definitely didn't say it because I'm your boyfriend." She gave him a skeptical look. "What? I'm serious." That look didn't go away. "Okay, maybe I did a little bit but can you blame me for wanting you to succeed?"

Lia sighed and smiled softly. "No, I guess I can't. I just...really don't want to screw up the mission. You and Master Riku might not be too hard on me but Master Aqua doesn't have a personal attachment to me. She might never let me leave from this world again if things don't go well." Ventus chuckled which made her look up at him. "What's so funny?"

"Aqua would never do that. She understands more than anyone that making mistakes can happen on a mission, especially on important ones. Those are the ones you learn the most from. Look, you've prepared for this day for the past three years of your life. You'll do amazing and to show you that I think so too, I actually made something for you."

Lia eyed Ventus curiously with the tilt of her head as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a star-shaped charm made of bright emerald green glass. Ventus gestured for Lia to take it but she looked at it wide-eyed in disbelief, unable to take it.

"Isn't that the wayfinder you placed on Master Eraqus' tribute?"

Ventus smiled and shook his head, "No, I made this one myself. The same way that Aqua gave me and Terra our wayfinders to symbolize an unbreakable bond, I want to give this one to you." He took Lia's hand by the back and flipped her palm face up to place the wayfinder on top. It was very small, small enough for her to close her fingers over it.

Lia could not believe it so all she did was just look into his eyes, again, captive by their glow. Finally, she smiled at him and tilted her head up to kiss him. He pressed his lips back against hers, moving them this time. Lia placed one of her hands on the side of his face and he put his on the small of her back, pulling her as close to him as possible. When they broke the kiss Lia rested her head against the crane in Ventus' neck once more and buried her body under his arm. The two sat just like that for some time until they decided to go back to their rooms.

* * *

**Location: **The Ocean Between

The large expanse of space between worlds was, despite being vibrant and colorful, teeming with darkness and its denizens. This is why Sari, Jack, and Rickson were flying through the lanes in between the worlds on their Keyblade Gliders with the protection of their Keyblade Armor to shield their bodies and their hearts from the invading darkness that surrounded them. It would consume them at the first opportunity that it had, but the trio were safe as they journeyed to Crescentia.

Of the three apprentices, Rickson was the most relaxed. They had the time, after all, before they would reach Crescentia. That is why he had taken the opportunity to lay back on his glider, kick his feet up on the ship's wheel, and pull out his guitar, strumming and humming as he flew through the Ocean Between.

Suddenly, however, he was knocked from his peace by a Gummi Block nailing him on the head. Rickson caught it just in time, considering Chip and Dale would be angered if they learned he lost them a Gummi Block, and turned to glare at the culprit. Despite most of her face being covered, the sweet smile that Sari wore was clearly visible. Rickson felt his veins turn to ice. _This can't be good_, he thought.

"Ricky, dear, we're currently under attack…" Sari started to say, her voice as sweet as honey, when her eyes suddenly sharpened and her smile vanished as she glared at him. "So would you mind HELPING PLEASE?!"

It was only then that Rickson thought to look at his surroundings to find that there was a horde of wolf-like heartless chasing after them. His eyes widened from astonishment as he yelled, "Heartless?! Hey don't look at me!"

"I'm not accusing you!" Sari yelled back as she leaned into the handle of her scooter-shaped glider, applying more power into the thrusts to take off.

"Oh, right…" Rickson fumbled in his seat as he pulled his guitar over so that it rested on his back, took hold of the ship's wheel, and channeled his energy into it to make his motorcycle-like glider move more quickly. Up at the very front was Jack, in his go kart-like glider, guiding his allies towards the icy asteroid field that surrounded Arendelle. Both Sari and Rickson followed him through the field, maneuvering around the large rocks that floated nearby. Unfortunately for them, the heartless pounced from asteroid to asteroid in hot pursuit. They danced around the field with their shadowy tails trailing behind them like a flickering torch flame.

As one of the Heartless pounced on Sari, Rickson yelled out, "No!" The Heartless seemingly slowed its advances which provided enough time for Rickson to ram his glider into the Heartless' side, sending it flying in some direction.

"Thank you!" Sari shouted as she kept her focus on the asteroids that floated in front of her and the enemies that continued chasing them.

"That's all I get?" Rickson asked, teasingly, not far behind her.

"If you haven't noticed, we're in-" She paused to whip her glider at an incoming Heartless but continued when she planted her feet on her vehicle, "the middle of something!"

"Fine, fine" Rickson said nonchalantly. "So what are these things called?" he asked as he whipped his glider to knock one of the Heartless away.

"I've never encountered Heartless like these. They seem to be purebloods."

"I say we call them Wolf Shadows!" Jack called back.

Rickson responded, "Nah, it needs to be more creative like Night Howlers."

"Taken," Sari called back.

"There's a Heartless like that already?"

"No! Nevermind, it's a long story."

"What about Shadowlers?" Jack suggested.

"Sha-what now?" Rickson asked.

"Guys, we should focus!" Sari called as she narrowly dodged one of the Heartless' claws.

"Yeah, cause that's a stupid name," a man said mockingly, his voice teeming with disgust. "They're called Dark Howlers, dummies."

None of the apprentices recognized the voice so they looked around only to find a muscular man in black leather with short grey hair flying at top speeds on his motorcycle-like vessel. He wore a malicious grin as he dove towards them, amused by the shocked looks on their faces. The man pulled back his left fist to charge the taser on his gauntlet and slammed it onto Rickson's glider, which made the young man lose control.

"Rickson!" Sari called out as she took a nosedive to protect Rickson from the incoming Dark Howlers. Just as she neared Rickson, the man readied another attack, this time intended for Sari. Luckily for her, Jack came from behind and slammed his glider into the man's vessel which prevented the attack. This allowed Sari to cast Reflera on Rickson, encasing him inside a transparent crystallized bubble. The Dark Howlers bit and clawed at the barrier, unable to make a scratch on it.

Inside the reflera, Rickson could only see ravaging monsters whirling around him like a dark cyclone. Unable to stop spinning inside the reflera, he began to panic. His eyes shut from anxiety and he gripped the side of his helmet as he yelled out, "Go away!"

The man looked on in awe is as the Dark Howlers disappeared around Rickson. This left him open for another attack from Jack but the apprentice was clipped in the shoulder by a bullet, causing him to flinch from the shock. Sari turned her attention away from Rickson to find another man on a motorcycle, this one with long silver hair.

"Having some trouble, Loz?" the long-haired man asked.

"Bug off, Yazoo! These runts are mine."

A volley of fireballs sprouted from Sari's hand, crashing into Loz and Yazoo. This singed their skin a bit but they were much more resilient than they appeared. They were not average humans. In fact, they were very agitated super humans. Loz yelled as he put power into his vehicle and rushed Sari and Rickson with a charged punch. Sari quickly set up another Reflera around herself and Rickson and yelled to Jack, "Run! Call the masters!" Loz's punch caused a large explosion on Sari's barrier which sent them flying off into the distance. Sari maintained the barrier until the constant whirling made her pass out from dizziness, in turn, dispelling her Reflera.

Just as Loz was about to take off after them, Yazoo said, "Leave them. We can deal with them at our leisure. We can't let this one get away and call for help."

Loz had to fight the urge to go after the other two but he finally resigned and said, "Fine!" He then shot Jack a smug smirk as more Dark Howlers spawned somewhere behind the duo and targeted Jack. The short young man looked around for Rickson and Sari, unsure of where exactly they drifted off to but when he could not find them, he decided it best to do as Sari said and call for help but first, he had to get as far away from Loz and Yazoo as possible. He turned his glider around and applied as much power as possible to the vehicle but he could hear Loz and Yazoo revving their engines too. To make matters worse, the Dark Howlers were quickly catching up to Jack. He could hear their snarls growing louder by the second.

Off to the side, Jack could see something dazzling making its way towards him. It curved around him, eliminating the Dark Howlers before returning to its origin like a boomerang. Further ahead, Jack could see someone riding a vehicle similar to his pursuers', but this person wore protective armor and a helmet. The stranger caught the blade with one hand and slipped it into one of the motorcycle's compartments.

"Get as far away from here as possible!" the man yelled as he passed by Jack.

Jack was tempted to turn around to help him face Loz and Yazoo or even to search for Sari and Rickson but he had to get somewhere safe to make the call to the Land of Departure.

* * *

**Location: **The Land of Departure - Castle - Aqua's Room

Aqua's room was very well kept. She dusted the shelves, shined the furniture, and swept and mopped the floors herself, afterall. Outside of training her apprentices, there was not much to do around the castle, though Silva made sure her day was never boring. Aqua's room faced the direction of the moon so it was often bathed in a white light at night, which would sometimes keep her up and sometimes her daughter too.

That night, she could not sleep but not because of the moonlight. The call she received from Jack had her worried. She was right that something was coming but she had no idea what and considering that some of the oldest apprentices at the Land of Departure were defeated with such ease, she was reasonably worried about whether they were ready to face whatever was on its way.

"Two silver-haired men who didn't need any sort of protection from the darkness. Could they be connected to…" Aqua shuttered at the thought of the old man.

She looked out through the window at the full moon, watching as small dark clouds would try to eclipse it. At one point, there were enough of them to dim the moonlight for a moment. Aqua let out a sigh before allowing herself to fall onto her bed. Air rushed under the sheets, making bubbles form but those bubbles quickly deflated. Her arms were stretched out wide as she still held her gummi phone in her hand.

"Is Mommy okay?" Silva asked, sitting up from where she laid beside her mother to look down at her instead.

"Mommy's okay, just stressed, baby girl." Aqua smiled softly.

"Don't worry, Mommy! I'll protect you from the monster!" Silva proclaimed.

"Heheh, thank you, baby girl." Aqua chuckled as she grabbed her daughter and held her against her chest, sighing as her comfortable weight settled on her chest.

With everything going on Aqua needed to take a breath. She needed to think about something that would put her to ease and when she began contemplating, her mind drifted to a particular person. She had not seen him in so long, not since before the absolute bundle of joy in her arms had come into existence, but she had the ability to speak to him at her fingertips. After debating it for a few minutes, Aqua brought her gummi phone to her face and searched for the man's name. She dialed it hoping to see his face but all she saw was the word "Disconnected" in large white letters. Aqua let her arm fall to the side as she whispered to herself, "Please be okay."

"Mommy thinking about Daddy?" Silva questioned. Aqua paused, not sure what to say. "Don't worry, Mommy! Daddy's strong! He'll be okay and come home to us soon!"

Suddenly, before she could say a word in response and as if in answer to her daughter's words, her gummi phone began ringing so she brought it in front of her face with lightning reflexes and hit the answer button without seeing who it was. "Terra?!" she shouted, partly hopeful, partly concerned.

Instead, the auburn hair and cobalt eyes appeared on Aqua's screen. It was her friend, Kairi, who also seemed distressed.

"Terra?" Kairi asked. "Aqua, were you expecting a call from him? I-I'm so sorry! I can call back if you'd like me to."

"Aunt Kai!" Silva called out and the red haired woman briefly waved at the little girl, though the movement was tense and not nearly as enthusiastic as it normally was.

Aqua shook her head, "No, no. I just...nevermind. Is everything okay, Kairi?"

"Actually Aqua, it's not. Sora didn't come home the last two nights." Aqua could see that it was already morning for Kairi.

"Uncle Sora?" Silva gasped. "But he promised he'd visit soon!"

"Sora is missing?" Aqua clarified, petting her daughter's hair to calm her.

"Yes. Yesterday, I called Tidus and Wakka to see if he spent the night with either of them but they said that he didn't. I asked around for him all over town and I even went to our island to see if he was there but I can't find him. I'm really worried about him. He's been distant lately but this...he's never done this and I-I don't know what to do…" Kairi was on the verge of tears, barely able to finish her sentences without her voice cracking. "No one has seen him anywhere. I'm beginning to think that he's not on this world anymore."

"He's not answering his phone?" Kairi shook her head. "Should I tell Riku to go to Destiny Islands to help you look for him?" Again, Kairi shook her head.

"I already called Roxas. He and Xion are going to come with me to look for Sora. Riku has a lot of responsibilities on his plate. I don't want him to just abandon everything. The rest of us can handle this. I just...I just wanted to fill you in. I know I'm asking a lot of you by keeping this between us but I want to tell Riku when I feel that I should tell him."

"When would that be?" Aqua asked.

"Either when we've found Sora or when I can't keep it from him any longer."

"Kairi, I really don't feel comfortable keeping this from him. How can I teach my apprentices the value of teamwork when I can't even be honest with my fellow master? What would I be showing them?"

"Blame it on me?"

"Kairi, I-"

"Aqua, please? I know that I'm putting you in a difficult position but I really don't want to bother Riku. I promise that I will tell him about this. I'll explain that this was all my idea and that you have nothing to do with this. I'll even explain it to your apprentices. Yes, honesty is important, but so is maintaining harmony."

"Aunt Kai! Lying is bad! You'll be grounded!" Silva warned, very concerned for her aunt's possible punishment.

"I know, sweetie, but I'll take my punishment, just like you always do." Kairi tried to smile.

Aqua stared at Kairi, slightly frustrated and annoyed by her request but in the end, she felt like Kairi had a point. Aqua told her, "Again, I really don't feel comfortable doing this but I will keep this between us. I won't even tell Ventus. I don't think it would be right to tell him but keep it from Riku. As for the blame, I'll take it all on myself. I am making this decision."

"Aqua, I don't-"

"Kairi, this is the only way I will agree to this."

With a sigh, Kairi nodded and said, "Okay, but can we at least leave that condition to be discussed later?"

Aqua pursed her lips. Maybe it had something to do with Kairi's unique powers but she could not bring herself to say no to the younger woman. With a sigh, she said, "Kairi, I'm going to trust that the three of you can bring Sora back."

Kairi's lips curled into a smile, "You can count on me! Thanks, Aqua!"

"Mommy…?" Silva asked, looking up at her distressed mother.

"Don't worry, baby girl. Mommy and Aunt Kairi will take care of everything. You just trust us." Aqua reassured. "Now, time for sleep, okay?"

"Okay!" Silva smiled with a nod. She then laid down with a whispered 'good night'. Aqua just sighed. She hoped she was doing the right thing...and that her too trusting daughter wouldn't suffer from this.

* * *

**And there we are! Now for some fun explanations!**

**That very first scene, the game the apprentices are playing? That was based on a game shown in episode four of the anime, Assassination Classroom. I was watching the anime again right around the time this reboot was being thought up and that game stuck with me, especially when I was thinking of how to originally start this chapter, since Legacy and I agreed that I knew the OCs better so I would be the one to start this chapter.**

**And MAN, did this chapter turn out long! I had no idea how many words were in it until editing it, but I knew it was pretty long. Legacy and I just kept writing, heh. I don't know if every chapter will be this long, but we'll keep working and give out just as good quality as I think we did here. **

**Oh, for the record, the new details that are highlighted here that seem new from DD (such as Lia/Ven for example), these were always planned, I just never got to them by myself. I'm glad I can finally write all these plot points I had planned now! And, as you can see, the subplots I had set up in the original DD (being the Roxas/Kairi subplot and the Sora/Namine/Xion subplots) have now changed, but I do promise that they have the same essence even if their original presentation is now different. I promise, what happens with these guys was always in the plan with the original as well.**

**And I have to admit, it's a lot more fun with all the OCs being available to write right off the bat rather than waiting a bit. Having them all interact really is fun for me, the dynamics between them all are fun to explore! Oh! Speaking of the OCs, when DD was first written, I messaged all the creators and asked if it would be okay to pair everyone off. I want this on the record now that not all OCs are gonna have obvious romance arc, though remnants of the original planned pairings will probably still be seen. Oh, and before I forget, no, Mahir calling Lia 'Lili' is not a typo left over from the days of Lili and Mili, that's simply his personal nickname for her, just letting you guys know! There should be no name mix ups now, but thanks for keeping an eye out for them last chapter!**

**That was a heck of a long author's note, I know, but I'm done talking now, haha! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Legacy and I have quite the plan for this story, lots and lots of things to come! This is probably gonna end up a huge epic, and I cannot wait to see the finished product and your guys' reactions to every twist we pull (and trust me, there's a lot *evil laughter*)**

**We'll see you all again soon, okay? May your heart be your guiding key!**


	3. Chapter 3:The First Step

**LegacyReturns: Hey everyone! I know I've been rather quiet for the prologue and chapter 1 but I just wanted to say thank you for the support for this story. This is something that Wolfie and I have been working on for a few years now and although I didn't commit to it last time, I think that with both of us contributing to this fanfic, it can succeed as a compelling and exciting story with many of your favorite characters and some new faces. I'm very satisfied with how the story has come out so far and I hope you guys are too.**

**WolfieRed23: Couldn't have said it better myself! In any case, thanks to Antex-The Legendary Zoroark (Thank you for reviewing!) for reviewing, all 3 followers, 3 favorites and all 114 readers!**

**Now, this chapter. It is completely new from the original DD and even brings in certain story elements that I was never able to get to or reveal (two of them, in fact. It's gratifying to finally reveal them to you all in a chapter), so I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter! The encyclopedia, of course, will be updated with the new information and outfits featured in this chapter (no new Keyblades yet, so that won't change yet). Sorry it's not as long as the previous ones, but we thought it was a good length to stop at. I think I've talked enough now, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The First Step**

* * *

**_Location: _**_Baron - Castle Ballroom_

_She fingered the fine dark blue, gold and light purple silks she wore, so rare was she to ever be seen in them._

_But, well, she supposed saving the world counted as a special occasion. Her mother had certainly thought she'd ought to dress up nicely. And so, she wore the colors of her country, her ceremonial kimono feeling odd in the absence of her usual, preferred, and combat friendly clothes._

_To distract herself from how out of place her kimono felt on her skin, she looked around the ballroom instead._

_As was tradition, the royal family and nobles of each kingdom had come together to celebrate the saving of the world. She could see those from Fabul wearing beautiful cheongsams and elaborately designed sashes, while those from Baron wore white and blue, favoring obviously formal wear, considering she knew Cecil and Rosa usually wore armor instead. Those from Troia wore delicate chitons that she would _never _wear while the representatives of Damcyan wore clothes that were meant to keep them cool in the desert._

_She could see Anahita and her cousin, Merlane, standing off to the side, Merlane supporting his cousin. She also spotted Ursula and Ceodore speaking in quiet whispers, out of sight of her parents, but probably directly in his parents'. Palom and Porom were talking with Leonora about some trip they planned to bring her on, one they hoped would benefit Mysidia (or at least, Porom did)._

_She smiled as she turned to see her parents speaking with Cecil and Rosa, her father enthusiastic yet surprisingly calm while her mother was elegant yet down to earth in a way many ladies of the court couldn't be. She could also see Kain speaking, almost awkwardly, to Izayoi, looking as uncomfortable as she herself felt. Not far from them stood Yang and Sheila, enthusiastically talking with the remaining Eblan Four, probably about some training regime. And in a corner of the room, she could see Edward and Takara speaking with her brother, Arslan, and his wife, Etoile, as well as Harley, or maybe a lecture from Harley instead, who knew. And then there was Luca, her father Giott, Cid and Mid speaking near the dessert table that had been set up, probably about some machinery or other._

_But as she continued to look around, she couldn't find one person. Growing concerned, she made her way over to her parents._

_"Mom, Dad, where's my sister?" She questioned. Her sister couldn't be left on her own for long, after all._

_Her parents, however, didn't answer. Instead, their eyes went over her head, as if they didn't see her…_

* * *

**Location:** The Land of Departure - Castle

There was a loud banging on Lia's door, waking both the twins from their sleep. Lia turned her lamp on and rushed to answer the door. Gia was still rubbing the dreariness from her eyes. It was Riku who had banged on her door. He was already dressed for combat and his face was very serious.

"Master? What has happened?" Lia asked with concern.

"Lia, Gia, plans have changed. We're going to conduct a rescue mission. I'll explain in the grand hall. Meet me there in ten minutes. I'm going to wake up Marta and Ryo."

"Ryo?" Lia questioned out loud. Riku had already made his way own the hall to collect the other apprentices.

"Wait, so am I going too?" Gia asked.

"I think we can assume so. We better get ready."

"Right!"

Just as they had been instructed, the twins were ready in ten minutes, though Lia had taken slightly longer than Gia. They were patiently waiting for Ryo with Marta and the masters. Due to the early morning hour, Silva was nowhere in sight and Aqua and Ventus were both still in their nightwear, something Gia couldn't stop thinking about. It made her want to laugh because of how unprecedented it was to see one of the masters in such casual attire. There was Lea, but he was...Lea. Speaking of Lea…

Gia looked around for her master, which Ventus caught. "He's already left for his mission," said the blonde.

"He didn't even say goodbye. Rude…"

Ventus chuckled and said, "That's Lea for you."

Lia nudged Gia and whispered, "Remember, we're in the presence of masters. Please be more professional."

Gia whispered back, "Huh? Oh! Right!" She then straightened out her posture to resemble a good soldier.

The sound of boots stepping on marble echoed through the halls and soon, Ryo appeared in a rush, getting his gauntlets adjusted onto his hands. He stopped next to Marta and turned to face the masters.

"I sincerely apologize for my tardiness, masters!" he said with a bow.

Ventus smiled and raised a hand of forgiveness in response. With that, Riku began explaining the situation to the apprentices. He told them that Sari's team had been attacked while they flew through the Ocean Between. "I'm going to be taking the four of you to Crescentia where we will rendezvous with Jack. From there, I'm going to go with him to look for Sari and Rickson. The four of you will stay with the Highwind and do some information gathering on Crescentia. See if anyone there knows what happened to the materia. We're going to use a warp gummi to reach Radiant Garden where we can get another from a mechanic there. Once we get that warp gummi, we can do another jump into the Misty Stream Galaxy. From there, we're headed into the Etherium Galaxy, where Crescentia is. Is this understood?"

"Yes, master!" the four apprentices chorused.

"Let's move." Riku led them down into the ship hangar, hidden inside the mountain that the castle sat atop.

Lia was at the back of the group and before she could follow them, Ventus pulled her back with a firm, yet gentle grasp on her bicep.

"Master…?" Lia questioned, though her eyes were alight with hidden panic. What was he _doing_?

But Ventus simply smiled and placed a small, white box in her hand, closing her fingers around it.

"Just in case...he'll keep you safe." He smiled before he let her go, then yelled out to the whole group, "Good luck everyone!"

Lia simply tucked the box in her jacket pocket and ran after the rest of the group, falling into step easily as they reached the hanger.

Once everyone had taken their seats in the Gummi Ship, Riku prepared the ship for take off. The hangar door opened to reveal the dawning sky which Riku couldn't help, but grin at. His face straightened out as he focused on the task before him, blasting off from the platform and into the sky.

* * *

**Location: **Destiny Islands - The Secret Place

Kairi was silent as she knelt beside the wall of the Secret Place, her hand resting on the spot where her and Sora's faces had been carved into the wall. Whereas she had been smiling when talking with Aqua, now Kairi's expression was so morose, she doubted anyone would think she was the same person if they saw her in both instances.

Not that she thought anyone could blame her, her boyfriend had basically vanished and she had no idea where he had gone. Though, that wasn't the only reason Kairi was acting the way she was.

She just...she should've noticed something if Sora had been planning to leave again or if he was in danger. Just because the two of them had decided to return to Destiny Islands after..._that, _didn't mean that they wouldn't be targeted by or involved with the next time the darkness decided to act. And the fact was that Kairi _didn't _notice and she _hated _herself for it, she was a failure of a friend and girlfriend!

But that was also why Kairi had let Roxas, Xion, and Aqua know what was going on. She was going to find Sora and fix her mistake and, if he _had _left to save the worlds again, force him to take her with him because she was not staying behind again, not after everything.

"I'll find you, I promise." Kairi whispered to her drawing of Sora, her thumb rubbing against the drawing of the paopu fruit Sora's drawing of her held up to him.

Just then, her gummi phone rang in her capris pocket and the redheaded Princess of Heart turned away from the wall, tucking a strand of shoulder-length red hair behind her ear as she took the phone out to answer the call.

"Hello?" She answered as Xion's face appeared.

"Hey, Kairi." Xion answered, her smile welcoming and understanding. "Roxas and I just landed the gummi ship on the hidden side of the island."

"Right, I'm on my way. Thanks Xion." Kairi nodded with a smile of her own.

Xion shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it. We'll see you soon." The screen went black.

Kairi wasted no time after that, making her way out of the Secret Place and towards the hidden side of the island, the only place a Gummi Ship could be parked without scaring the other islanders who had no idea there were other worlds (as Donald constantly reminded Sora, they couldn't damage the world order even on their own world).

Sure enough, when she got there, she found Xion standing outside the Gummi Ship, waiting for her. Roxas was probably inside, at the cockpit because, as much as he would deny it, he loved flying the Gummi Ship as much as Sora did.

"Kairi!" Xion said excitedly as she opened her arms to hug her friend. "It's been so long."

"Yeah, it has," Kairi admitted. "I wish we could've reunited under better circumstances."

Xion's smile softened as she responded, "So do I, but don't worry. As soon as we find that goofball, we'll force an explanation out of him."

This made Kairi smile as a look of determination appeared on her face. "Yeah!"

"Ready?" Xion asked.

"Yeah. Let's go find Sora."

"You got any idea on where to reach him then?" Roxas questioned as the women walked into the cockpit and took their seats. "Cause I can't get any sense from him."

"What?" Kairi's eyes widened, to which Roxas grunted a 'yes'.

This just became a lot more serious. After Namine had been separated from Kairi and Roxas from Sora, they had all still been able to sense their respective counterpart's emotions, even more so if they were in a stressful or dangerous situation. But if Roxas couldn't sense _anything _from Sora, that meant that Sora was consciously blocking Roxas out, or...Kairi didn't even want to _think _of the other option. Without realizing it, Kairi was beginning to shake from the anxiety that came with that thought. She bit down on her bottom lip...hard.

"Hey, calm down." Xion said, holding Kairi's hands gently in her own fingerless gloved ones. "It's not the end of the world if Roxas can't get a sense on Sora. That just means only your heart can guide us to him. You can do this, Kairi."

"Right…" Kairi took a deep breath before she closed her eyes, searching for the bond she associated with Sora in her heart. Similar to what Roxas said, she noticed that it was a bit harder to locate Sora through their bond, but...there! It was faint, but she could sense him. "I know where to go."

"You got a gateway for us then?" Roxas asked, turning to her with a teasing smirk. "Cause otherwise, we're kinda stuck, Kai."

Kairi rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him before she summoned Destiny's Embrace. "Hold on, Sora. We're coming." She swore as she extended her Keyblade and it emitted a beam of light, opening a gateway that would lead them to Sora.

"Good job, Kairi!" Xion grinned as she returned to her own seat.

"Yeah, nice job." Roxas smiled as he laid his hands on the controls. "Now, let's go get Sora."

"Yeah!" Kairi nodded, hope filling her heart.

Maybe...this wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe, just maybe, this would just be a quick trip to find Sora and back home from there. Kairi hoped so desperately. As the ship rose into the sky and passed through the gate, Kairi was amazed by the brilliant white light that shined around them. She had witnessed this before when Sora would open a gate, but this was the first time that she herself had opened one. It was invigorating to see what she was capable of doing.

"Hope you two buckled in," Roxas said as he slowly pushed a lever forward. The Gummi Ship began to accelerate through the gateway, picking up more and more speed with each passing second. Kairi could feel her back pressing into her chair and soon, she was unable to move from the sheer speed at which Roxas was flying the ship. She managed to move her head slightly to the side to find Xion looking back at her with a shameful smile and an eyeroll. She must have gotten used to his piloting by then. Kairi wanted to get to Sora as quickly as possible but in that moment, all she wanted to do was stay alive.

* * *

**Location:** The Ocean Between - Just Outside Radiant Garden

After a couple hours of flying through the Ocean Between, Roxas finally exited the channel that they had been flying through. Before the world came into view, Kairi felt a familiar warmth, like a connection she had in her heart had grown stronger. They were approaching a very familiar world with blue soil, magenta skies, and a large castle sitting in the center of the city. Roxas, Xion, and Kairi all looked at each other with puzzled looks.

The black-haired girl asked, "Why would Sora be in Radiant Garden?"

Kairi said, "That's a good question. He would've told me if he came to visit Leon and the others. We should check the outlands for him. I'd prefer to avoid Namine."

"You think she would tell Riku?" Xion asked. "They don't even talk since they broke up."

"No, but I don't want to put her in that position."

Roxas responded, "Yeah, I understand. I'll lower us." Roxas said as he flew them in closer, making sure to keep the gummi ship away from the city. He landed the Gummi Ship in the canyon that stretched between the familiarity of Radiant Garden and Maleficent's castle, using the rock formations as cover to prevent anyone from recognizing the ship.

Once they were landed safely, Xion turned to Kairi with a smile. "Well, now that we've survived the first obstacle of this journey, what do you say to us doing some leg work to find Sora?" She asked.

"I'm in, let's go." Kairi nodded, her face entirely serious and worry shining obviously in her sapphire blue eyes.

Roxas didn't like that look, not one bit. So, he made a point of being quiet until they exited the ship and then…"Xion, did you just refer to my flying as an obstacle?"

"What else would you call that? We practically died a couple times," Xion teased, her gratitude of him catching on sparkling in her own eyes. The real reward, however, was the small giggle Kairi let out. And, just to encourage her, Roxas sighed, longsufferingly.

"Good to know the way we always manage to catch our targets so fast is an obstacle in your mind." He drawled sarcastically.

"Not my fault you crash so much~" Xion sing songed right back at him.

Kairi only laughed more and that pulled Roxas' own lips up into a smile. Sharing a look with his partner, he saw she was smiling just the same, relieved that the dark cloud hanging over their red headed friend was dissipating, if only for a moment.

**Location: **Radiant Garden - Maleficent's Castle

From the base, Maleficent's Castle had quite the imposing effect on a person with its five warped towers. It appeared as though it had been built atop a ruined city which seemed to have been empty long before Radiant Garden had been built. _Maybe, this is why the world was called Hollow Bastion,_ Kairi thought to herself.

Roxas rested a hand on the redhead's slender shoulder, which drew her attention to him. "You okay?" he asked. Kairi couldn't help, but smile at him. She could see Sora in him, finding comfort in his concerned eyes.

Kairi simply nodded and said, "Yeah. It's just that this place...I get a bad feeling from it."

"Well with a name like Villain's Vale, that's understandable," Xion responded. "This place reeks of darkness so we better be on our guard. Maleficent might not be here anymore but she might've left some of her friends inside."

"Right," the others said in unison. All three summoned their Keyblades and entered with caution.

It was pitch black inside so Kairi took point and channeled some of her light energy into Destiny's Embrace, making it glow at its tip to brighten their way. Roxas and Xion both held their respective keyblades, Two Become One and Oathkeeper, with a firm grip. Over the years since they had become their own persons, Roxas never grew past Sora's crouched fighting stance, but Xion had adopted a single-handed hold.

The trio worked their way through the ruin, Roxas and Xion making drawing a mental map in their heads all the while. There were strange markings on the walls, resembling various things like people, animals, and some unidentifiable symbols. It was an archaic written language that none of them were familiar with in the slightest. In all of their travels, Roxas and Xion had never come across similar markings, especially since their trips to Radiant Garden were reserved for information gathering from their allies. No one ever bothered to come to Maleficent's castle for any reason, except for the horde of heartless that the three found in a large chamber, seeming to be at the highest point in the ruins and the access point to the castle built atop them. Their beady yellow eyes poked through the deep shadows beyond Kairi's light.

Roxas held his hand out, whirling his keyblade in a circle in front of him, before launching a small beam of light that flew across the room until it hit one of the Soldiers, knocking the creature off balance and allowing the warriors to see the enemies in front of them. The heartless began to stir, most notably, the Large Bodies that began to charge forward.

Roxas charged forward and called out, "Xion!"

The girl nodded as she threw her keyblade like a tomahawk and it ricocheted off a Large Body's stomach, allowing Roxas to catch it and use both Two Become One and Oathkeeper to guard against the heartless, making it stagger back. Roxas charged himself with light energy before pushing forward to zigzag around the Large Body and strike it in its weak spot on it back. With an x-shaped slash of light, Roxas made quick work of the monster.

While Roxas fought that Large Body, Xion and Kairi unleashed a barrage of light spells on the other heartless, lighting the room with streaks of white. Xion called out to Kairi and said, "Keep up the fire! I'm going in!"

"You don't have a Keyblade!"

"Roxas, would you care to fix that?"

Roxas nodded before tossing Oathkeeper backwards for Xion to wield. Kairi then gave Xion a nod, covering the black-haired girl as she quickly weaved through room, slashing away at any and all heartless that she set her eyes on.

Kairi understood that her role in the fight was to shine as much light inside the room as possible and if she managed to hit some enemies, then that was only advantageous, but missing targets would incite internal frustration. There were a couple times that she missed a heartless and Roxas or Xion would have to cover the other because of it. The others seemed to have everything covered for the most part, having dealt with the Large Bodies very early on in the altercation. As the number of Soldier heartless dwindled, Kairi began to feel more at ease. There were nine, then eight, then five, then three, and then two. Xion threw her Keyblade to slice through the Soldier before summoning it back in her hand.

The last Heartless ran from both Roxas and Xion, towards Kairi. They were about to use ranged attacks to strike it down but Kairi called out, "No! I've got this one!" She gathered light energy in her Keyblade to create enough light so that she could see the approaching enemy. She then pointed the weapon at it and fired her Flower Shoot attack at it. The shining ball of energy flew past the heartless and crashed on the ground behind it. Kairi noticed something odd about that Soldier - its skin was green. As soon as the attack flew past it, the Heartless changed directions and ran away from Kairi as well. She grimaced, disappointed in herself for not being able to hit her target.

Roxas and Xion shared a look before moving to corner the heartless, their keyblades lit with energy. Roxas explained to Kairi, "Kai, this Heartless is called a Deserter. It's not like normal Soldier heartless."

"Deserter? Why is it - wait a minute! It's running away from us."

"Bingo," Xion said. "So who should do the honors?" she asked Roxas.

"W-wait!"

Xion and Roxas both turned to Kairi who kept her gaze on the Deserter. The monster took notice of this and lunged at Xion only for Kairi to jump in to protect her friend, blocking the monster's claw with her weapon.

"Kairi, what was that about?" Xion asked.

Roxas was about to slash it when Kairi yelled, "Don't!"

"Seriously, what gives?" Roxas asked.

Kairi pushed the Deserter off and she answered, "It might be a Heartless but it doesn't want to fight."

"I beg to disagree from the looks of it." Roxas answered.

Kairi shook her head and said, "It's trying to protect itself like any person would. I may not have as much battle experience as you two, but I know that not everything is black and white - good and evil. Xehanort wasn't."

"Xehanort was a madman," Xion countered.

"Still...Sora told me what he truly wanted. Sure his heart was consumed by darkness, but you mean to tell me that after what you witnessed when he died, that he was purely that? Riku isn't pure light, but he isn't pure darkness either." Kairi dropped her fighting stance and held a hand out towards the Deserter. "I always wondered what exactly it meant to be a Princess of Heart, but now I think I know."

Roxas eyed her confusedly as the young woman began to near the heartless. "Kai, don't get too-" He was cut off by Xion holding her hand out in front of him. Xion looked at him with a discerning look before turning her attention back to Kairi and the heartless. Roxas then did the same.

Kairi continued to near the Deserter, which was oddly very still. It was tense but it did not seem like it would strike back, even when Kairi placed her hand on the creature's helmet. The young woman shuddered at the touch of cold metal, but once she overcame that initial reaction, she closed her eyes and allowed the warmth from her heart to flow through her body and wash over the heartless. Soon, both were engulfed in a warm, bright light that lit up the entire room until it faded, leaving Kairi with another young redheaded woman in her arms.

This young woman had her hair tied into pigtails and her fair skin was darkened by dirt and dust. Her face trembled as she struggled to open her eyes, her body resting against Kairi's. When she finally came to, she said, "Thank you." The young woman had a distinct accent in her voice.

Kairi smiled and said, "You're welcome. Can you move on your own?"

The young woman began to shift against Kairi, trying to find her balance, but when Roxas and Xion's light got in her eyes, she had to shield herself from it.

"Does the light hurt you?" Xion asked.

"It's just a little hard on my eyes," she answered.

When she finally managed to get onto her feet with Kairi and Roxas' help, the blonde asked her, "What's your name?"

"You can just call me Vanille," she responded.

"Where are you from?" Kairi asked.

Vanille looked down and crossed her arms, holding her elbows, as she said, "No where now. My home...it was destroyed long ago, thanks to me…"

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, her voice soft and considerate. The tone of her voice seemed to strike a chord in Vanille, who met her eyes for a moment before a smile bloomed on her face.

"Never mind. Thank you so much for rescuing me, I thought I'd never be free." She bowed to the Princess of Heart. "I'd be happy to help you if you ever need anything in return."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Kairi smiled. "But for now, why don't we get you back to town and see if there's anything to be found about your home."

"Kairi, I thought you wanted to avoid Naminé."

Kairi nodded and said, "Yeah, that's true but I've been feeling a strong connection to her. I think she already knows that I'm here so there's no use hiding anymore."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He looked at Vanille and said, "We should get moving before it gets too late anyway. And preferably before more Heartless appear. Can you walk?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." Vanille smiled. "Which way do we go?"

Roxas led the way out while Kairi and Xion each walked on one side of Vanille, forming a protective guard around the mysterious young woman, just in case. The entire time they were moving, not a single word was spoken, for fear of alerting the heartless in hiding to their position. Even so, despite the dark, Kairi could've sworn she could see a lost and guilty expression on Vanille's face when she looked at her from the corner of her eye. But as soon as their eyes met, the look was gone, replaced with a bright smile instead. This young woman was an enigma to Kairi.

* * *

**Location: **Radiant Garden - Outskirts

Gia threw up from the warp. It had been her first time moving through space at such a high speed. Corridors of Darkness were more like doorways from one point in space to another. Warping literally moved every cell in her body from one location to another and it was something her body had not been acclimated to.

Ryo too had never warped before but the jump did not make him vomit. It was seeing Gia vomit that did it for him. Riku looked over his shoulder and apologized, "Sorry about that. I should've warned you two that warping is hard on the body the first time."

"We're supposed to do that twice?" Gia asked as she wiped her mouth with Lia's scarf. The taller twin yanked the scarf from Gia's clutches and looked at the dirty spot with disappointment before glaring at her sister.

"Four times," Riku clarified. "Two one way, two back. You should be used to it by the end of the trip." He unbuckled his belt and stood up to face the apprentices. Before giving any orders, he looked down at the vomit and lurched forward slightly, but quickly covered his mouth with his fist and cleared his throat. Lia quirked an eyebrow and smirked behind her cowl. Noticing this, Riku said, "Lia, make sure to clean this up before leaving the ship." Her smirk dropped as her master began explaining, "I parked the ship just outside the city's gate because despite there being many people in this world who know of the existence of the other worlds, that's not everyone and our number one priority is always to protect the world order. I'm sure Gia can tell you guys that this means keeping this sensitive knowledge to yourselves."

"I can? I mean yes! I can…"

Lia just bowed her head and shook it.

Riku continued, "So this is what's going to happen. It's important for all of you to know who you can trust on outside worlds so you're going to come with me to Cid's shop. That way, any time you have to come out here, you will know exactly where you can find him. He runs a regular accessory shop in the market district, but that's just a front for his Gummi Block business. If you need a specific gummi block, Cid is the guy to get it from and he happens to be a good mechanic so I come to him to install Warp Gummis."

Riku opened the ramp to exit the ship and the apprentices followed behind him. As she stepped onto the ramp, Lia stumbled lightly but she managed to catch herself by holding the ship's inner wall. Ryo reached out to help her but she shook her head and said, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Thank you, Ryo."

"Y-you're welcome," he said as he followed behind her, still cautious in case she were to stumble again.

"Hey, Lia, are you feeling okay?" Marta asked as she turned to Lia, her eyes awake and concerned.

"Yeah, I just didn't get much sleep last night." Lia sheepishly shrugged, looking awkward. It made sense, considering she rarely, if ever, overslept.

"Well must've been that training with-"

Lia quickly covered Gia's mouth and whispered something into her ear. "Please don't finish that sentence. I'll explain later."

Gia looked at her sister with shock, but trusted her.

Marta asked, "Training with?"

"Training without knowing when to stop," Gia said. "You know how much of a workaholic Lia can be. I worry about her, honestly."

Marta eyed Gia with suspicion, studying her features with close intent. Suddenly, her face melted into a dreamy smile as she said, "Yup! That's Lia alright."

"Marta's right though," Gia told Lia. "You took longer than I did to get ready this morning. Wait, did you dream too? Of the ball held in honor of the Creator's defeat, I mean."

"Yeah...yeah, I did." Lia nodded, her own surprise forming as Gia grinned brightly.

"Wasn't that such a fun day? It was really great to have everyone together _without _a crisis going on, and having Cecil conscious of course!" She chirped happily.

"Yeah. I don't think Anahita enjoyed it much, though." Lia offhandedly commented, sounding lost in thought.

"True, but Merlane was there to help, along with our three Sages-in-training! She was okay!" Gia smiled.

"Um…wait," Ryo said, breaking the conversation. All eyes were on him now, which made him nervous. His eyes darted from left to right as he struggled to form his question, "I was just...um...wondering...uh...how did you two, you know, have the...er...same dream?

"Twin thing," they said together.

"Oh, they've practiced that for sure," Marta said, sounding impressed by them.

"Nope," they responded.

Marta told Ryo, "Oh, they're good. So who are all those people you guys were talking about?"

Gia explained, "Just some people we knew back home. Before we left, we helped save the world and, after everything calmed down, all the nobles insisted we have a celebration ball. Cecil is the dad of one of our friends, while Anahita, Merlane and the Sages-in-training I mentioned were all closer to our age. It was a fun night, despite the stuffy nobles and uncomfortable clothes."

"I'd like to go to a ball like that someday." Marta smiled.

"Maybe you will, once we find our home again! Right, Lia?" Gia whirled around to smile at her sister again.

"Yeah...right." Lia smiled. And if her eyes still seemed unfocused and far away, nobody commented on them.

Some time later, Riku had led the group to an accessory shop just as he mentioned. Inside was an older gentleman with golden blonde hair. There was the distinct smell of smoke in the air and it was plain to see why. The man had a cigarette lit inside his own shop.

"Howdy!" he said with a wave as he walked across the counter to greet Riku. "Woah there, you brought the whole dang daycare this time."

Riku chuckled as he turned to the apprentices and said, "I'd like you all too meet Cid Highwind, the best pilot and mechanic this side of the galaxy."

"Hey, I'm the best pilot and mechanic in the entire galaxy."

Riku's head bounced from side to side as he nodded in partial agreement. He said, "Yeah, I guess I can give you that honor. Anyways, I brought them with me to show them who they can come to if they need anything Gummi-related."

"I take it you need a Warp Gummi from me?"

"Yeah, I need one installed now to replace the one we used to get here and then I'll need another on our way back home. I'll pay upfront for both."

"You got it. Is the ol' rig outside the city?"

"Yeah, where I usually park it."

"Alrighty then, I should have the Warp Gummi installed within the hour."

"Thanks, Cid," Riku said as he paid for the parts and then led the apprentices outside. "Alright, since we've got an hour to kill, we might as well try to do some information gathering. It's doubtful that anyone out here may know about the materia shortage, but you never know so we'll split up and meet back here in an hour. Gia, since you've spent the most time world traveling, I entrust Ryo with you. Lia, you're with Marta."

"Yes, master," they all said.

Lia asked, "Will you be on your own then?"

"That's right. Remember, we meet back here in one hour. Break."

* * *

**WolfieRed23: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed, Legacy and I spent a lot of time trying to figure this chapter out, since our original plan was scrapped and expanded upon. I'm happy with how this chapter came out and I know Legacy is too. Next chapter, though, is gonna be a LOT of fun. A LOT. But we felt this was a good place to stop, considering the reveals this chapter featured and the introduction of Vanille...among other characters. Vanille is from FF13, in case some of you didn't know! It's been a while since I've written her, so this was fun for me! And I hope you guys enjoy the updated Roxas/Kairi arc that has now become a Roxas/Xion/Kairi arc meant to find Sora! For the record, just so everyone knows, the plans from the original story ARE still in effect, with the added bonus of better writing and story arc structuring. No matter what, the heart of this fic will always be what Legacy and I originally envisioned it to be years ago, finally realized with us being even better than we used to be. **

**That's all from me for now, we'll see you all again soon! May your heart be your guiding key!**


	4. Chapter 4:Ansem

**Hello everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it? Don't worry, Legacy and I have been hard at work for most of the time! Honestly, this chapter started and was planned to end at a COMPLETELY different part, but we decided we liked this a lot more! And the characters agreed, haha!**

**Before I say anything else: we went back and edited all the previous chapters, but the biggest edits have been made to chapter 1 (2 in the chapter count)! What is this big edit, you ask? Why a brand new character that Legacy and I designed together! Let us know what you think of them once you read about them (even if the encyclopedia DOES spoil them, lol).**

**Moving on! Thanks to Antext-The Legendary Zoroark (Thanks! And don't worry, we're on it, just very VERY busy!) and ShadowWolf223 (I'm glad we surprised you! We both love Kairi a lot, so we're giving her a starring role with her very own arc here, with Roxas and Xion tagging along!) for reviewing, all 6 followers, 5 favorites and 215 readers!**

**Now, as for this chapter, it's kinda a mix of Legacy solo writing, me solo writing and us tag teaming it and we're both pretty happy with the result. So I hope you all enjoy too!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Ansem's Apprentices**

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle - Courtyard

The tip of a cobalt blue spear scraped against Faerie Whitkin's rose pink shaft, creating small sparks every time they clashed. In one clash, Gia and her opponent, Dilan, locked their weapons and their gazes. Gia pressed up against the man's spear with one hand on her keyblade's hilt and the other near the tip as she smiled up at the grimacing man.

Behind her, Ryo held his head with both hands as he stammered, "M-Ms. Gia! Is t-this really what we should be d-doing right now?!"

As Gia was about to answer, one swift thrust of the spear almost jabbed her stomach, but she was quick enough to push against the blade with her own weapon. The girl was caught off balance however, so Dilan, the spear-wielder, pulled back and swiped at her feet. Gia fell backwards, left completely open to a strike from above.

"Ryo!" Gia yelled.

The young apprentice ran forward and with all his might, swung his Starlight Keyblade against the spear's blade. Silver and cobalt scraped against each other, sending sparks into the air. Ryo had narrowly blocked the attack, sparing Gia from a critical hit. As the summoner fell to the floor, Dilan staggered. The boy's swing was much stronger than he expected. Dilan used the momentum given to him by Ryo's strike to spin and distance himself from the two as he put himself into a defensive stance.

"Thanks for the save," Gia said as she got up from the ground.

"Your form leaves much to be desired, Little Sprite," Dilan said as he twirled his spear behind him and placed a foot forward to prepare himself for a sprint.

When Ryo heard the man call her "little," he winced and closed his eyes, expecting Gia to rampage like she did with him on the Land of Departure and that's exactly what she did. The silver-haired woman shouted, "Who are you calling 'little,' Noodle Head?!" She then charged forward with her keyblade raised over her head for a violent slash. Unlike Dilan's insult, Gia's did no kind of damage to the man's composure. In fact, he almost cracked a smile.

When Gia neared Dilan, he readied himself to parry her strike but she took a different approach by using Aerora on herself to leap over her opponent. While in the air, she cast a Fire spell down onto Dilan. The man noticed the tip of her Keyblade as it began to glow brightly with yellow and orange colors so he was prepared to dodge the attack. What he was not prepared for was Gia's next spell as she launched a small yellow ball of light, which flew right past him. Dilan held his spear in front of him to guard but realized that she had missed so he charged forward. That's when he heard her say, "Haste!" By the time he turned around, Ryo was in his face midswing. The man had no choice but to throw himself to dodge the strike.

"Good going, Ryo! You almost got him!"

"That was a crafty little trick, but no amount of magic will turn the tide of this battle." Dilan held his spear forward and pressed a button. Some latches on the spear's handle unlocked and the weapon split into two. He caught the second spear as it transformed itself to become complete and the first did so as well.

"'No amount of magic will turn the tide of this battle'," Gia mocked the man childishly. "Well no amount of spears will turn the tide of this battle, you cowlicked freak!"

"Ms. Gia, sh-should you really be insulting him so much?"

Gia ignored her ally's concerns and charged forward again. "Watch my back, Ryo!"

Dilan began twirling both his spears to make it difficult for his opponents to predict his next attack When Gia was close enough, he slammed the tip of one spear in the ground and used it to lift himself into the air. He then flipped and used the momentum to add extra power behind his spear toss. Dilan's weapon flew across the courtyard that the three were fighting in. It moved so quickly that Gia had to slide to dodge the attack. Dilan sprinted forward and lunged blade-first towards Gia. Ryo also ran forward with his enhanced speed to block another attack but Dilan planted the blade just behind Gia's shoulder to use it as leverage to kick Ryo in the side of the face and send him crashing to the floor. The man then landed with his boots on the ground and twisted to lock Gia by the neck with his spear's handle.

With Ryo knocked down and Gia's pinned, he said in her ear, "You lose."

As Ryo rose to a kneeling position, he watched Dilan nervously. It was then that Dilan let Gia go and walked away to retrieve his other spear.

Gia fell forward onto her hands which caused Ryo to spring forward out of concern. "M-Ms. Gia! Are you okay?"

Gia slammed the ground with the side of her fist. "Darn it! I was so close that time!"

"I had four opportunities to kill you," Dilan stated flatly as he approached the girl and offered her a hand, which she took. "What kind of training is Lea giving you? It seems he isn't keeping you on your toes. Strange considering he was quite adept as a combatant during his time as Axel."

"A-Axel?" Ryo thought aloud. This caught Gia and Dilan's attention which made him sweat.

Dilan nodded curtly and said, "Yes, that was Lea's name while he was a Nobody."

"M-master Lea was a N-Nobody?!"

Dilan responded, "One of the more underhanded and sadistic, at that."

"You're one to talk, Husband of Medusa. I heard you toyed with a certain Princess of Heart," Gia countered with an eyebrow raised.

Dilan put his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Well...yes…" he admitted, "but so did Lea."

"He did?!" Gia asked out of shock.

"I see he hasn't been completely transparent with you. As Axel, Lea kidnapped Kairi."

"M-Ms. Kairi?!" Everything Dilan was telling them completely changed Ryo's perception of Lea. He may not have known the redhead until the day before but he had no idea that a master could have such a dark past.

"That's right. In an attempt to see his best friend and Sora's Nobody, Roxas, Axel took Kairi hostage. He thought that doing so would make Sora look for him, though I'm sure he hadn't thought out how he would retrieve Roxas from inside Sora's heart." Dilan noticed that Ryo seemed to grow more confused as the man spoke to which he said, "You really are new, aren't you?"

"I'll explain on the ship," Gia said.

Dilan nodded. "So what did you want to ask me before we began our sparring match?"

"Oh! Right! Do you know anything about the missing materia?"

Dilan rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb as he responded, "We did notice the shortage but we have yet to properly investigate the matter. Is this your latest mission?"

"Yeah, that's right," Gia said with a nod. "We have a good idea of what part of the universe we should look in but it's more like a hunch."

"Well, regardless, I have full confidence that the New Order of Keyblade Wielders can resolve this issue."

"Right!" Gia said confidently. She then turned to Ryo and said, "Well, we should return to Cid's shop now."

At that moment, a ringing sound erupted from Ryo's pocket. He pulled out a Gummiphone to which Gia said, "Aw what?! No fair! How does the newbie have one before me?!"

"H-hello?" Ryo asked as he answered Riku's call.

"Ryo, where are you and Gia?"

"By the large castle. We're here with one of Lord Ansem's guards." He then turned the phone to Dilan who saluted to Riku.

Riku said, "Good. Dilan, could you take Gia and Ryo inside? There's been an incident. I'm with the rest of my party in one of the guest rooms."

"Does Mr. Ansem have some information on our mission?" Gia asked.

"Not exactly. It's actually Lia…"

"Lia?! I'm coming sister!" Before Riku could explain anything else, Gia spearheaded to the front door of the castle and waltzed in as if it were her own home.

"W-we'll be right up," Ryo said as he followed Dilan to the castle.

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Sewer System

Lia honestly still did not understand just how she and Marta got into this situation...all she knew was that she was currently in the sewers, watching some kind of fight.

Two men were fighting. One was a dark skinned man with wild brown hair wearing black shorts with an orange sash and a red headband. He wore no shirt, but there was a large black tattoo right in the center of his chest. The other man was light skinned with light blonde hair wearing a light brown trench coat over jeans and a shirt Lia couldn't see and a black beanie. He also had black gloves to protect his hands.

"You're quite the cocky boy, aren't ya?" The dark skinned man, announced to be Jecht just moments ago, grinned.

"I'm a hero, so I've gotta be." The light skinned man, announced to be Snow, returned. "I need this money, so I can return to the people important to me...so I'm gonna beat you, old man!"

"Heh...a man after my own ideals…" Jecht grinned. "But sorry, boy, ya ain't winning this one!"

The men charged at the same time, punching and blocking as blow after blow came at them. Neither had a weapon but they were very good with their fists. It was like Lia was watching a dance as she observed it all.

When Snow moved to punch Jecht back, the dark skinned man caught his fist before he pulled the blonde man towards him, kneeing him in the stomach once he was close. Snow didn't go down, however, instead using his momentum to twist his body _just _enough to change the hold from Jecht to himself and flipping the man over his shoulder. Jecht managed to land on his feet, however, and kicked out in an attempt to knock Snow on his back. Snow simply jumped back with a bright grin before landing a good undercut on Jecht's jaw.

The two went back and forth, one after the other, blow after blow, until Jecht managed to hook his leg around Snow's while he restrained the blonde's hand and forced the blonde to the ground. Snow struggled to escape, but the hold Jecht had on him was a sturdy one that couldn't be broken so easily.

"Ya give up, boy?" Jecht smirked.

"Not on your life, old man!" Snow grinned before kicking right in the middle of the older man's knee, giving Snow just enough room to escape. However, before he could get very far, Jecht quickly got up and trapped him in a choke hold.

"Good try, boy. But ya ain't winning this one. Give hell to the next sorry bastard though…" The dark skinned man smirked before he used his hold to slam Snow into the wall hard enough to knock him unconscious.

The referee came out then and raised Jecht's hand in the air, to the cheers of everyone around them. Lia still didn't understand why they were fighting, even as Jecht told Snow he'd get the next unlucky bastard in a fight before he was led away, and she _really _didn't understand how Marta was fast asleep next to her throughout all of this. Lia knew that it was an uncontrollable condition of hers but the ruckus was not easily ignored.

"Alright then! Who's willing to challenge the champion of the ring? The Sky Splitter and Silent Enemy? Who thinks they can take on the great and mighty...Lexaeus?!" The referee suddenly cried.

Apparently, _that_ yell was enough to startle Marta awake as her hand shot up and her eyes snapped open.

"We will!" She grinned brightly.

"We'll _what_?!" Lia whispered. She tried to get them out of fighting but were ushered into the ring by some very scary-looking men. Lia and Marta could have easily disabled them but they figured that they should keep a low profile.

"Alright! We've got a fight then! Everyone place your bets!" The referee grinned, resembling a shark. Lia didn't like this. "And now...let's get ready to fiiiiiiiiiiiigggggghhhhhhht!"

As soon as the words left his lips, Lia sensed a presence above her and looked up. She froze for only a moment before she roughly pushed Marta aside and jumped aside herself.

Thank the Crystals she moved when she did. As soon as the two apprentices were clear, a man landed right where they had been previously, creating a crack in the floor from the force of his axe-sword.

Lia breathed a sigh of relief as the man straightened up. Perhaps they could handle this...of course, then she saw the man's face and froze. _Shit. _She thought. She remembered hearing about a Nobody in the old Organization XIII who had been named Lexaeus. And this guy...was probably him, given the _giant axe-sword he wielded like it was nothing_. The former Nobody was glaring at her, obviously playing whatever role he was playing, considering he was _not _wearing his standard uniform, but a simple black tank top and jeans. His iconic orange hair had been dyed a bright violet. She had seen a picture of him once in a portrait in the castle at the Land of Departure. Having heard of such a powerful warrior, she wished to one day come face-to-face with him but facing against him was most decidedly _not good_.

Putting her doubts aside, Lia looked over at Marta and said, "Protect the world order."

Marta already knew that the masters were very protective of the world order and made all of the apprentices swear to work to keep the existence of the many worlds a secret from those who were unaware. They would not be able to use their Keyblades for this fight, not in front of Radiant Garden's scum.

"Ninjutsu Arts: Hidden Armory!" Lia made a hand seal and a large white cloud appeared around her hands. When it disappeared, a long silver katana had magically appeared in her hand. "Marta, stay back. I'll try to open him up for a sleep spell." Marta nodded.

Lia lifted the katana to her chest-level in a reverse grip. She watched Lexaeus intently and he returned the analytical gaze. The spectators began to throw bottles into the ring as they yelled for the fighters to start going at it. When Lexaeus looked over at the crowd, Lia went in for her strike. This did not go unnoticed by the colossal warrior who swung his weapon in a horizontal arc. Lia flipped over Lexaeus and spun upon landing to deliver a wide slash. Lexeaus had predicted this and pulled his axe-sword over his shoulder to protect his rear.

"Now!" Lia yelled.

Marta cast a sleep spell, emitting a wave of mental energy from her hand, which would knock Lexaeus to the ground asleep, or at the very least slow him down. Unfortunately, at the last moment, he side-stepped the entire wave, forcing Lia to Flash Step to avoid the attack, ending up beside Marta once more.

"That was close…" She sighed before glaring at her partner. "Why the hell did you get us into this anyway?!"

"I dunno...fun? I had a dream like this once!" Marta grinned, enjoying all of this _way _too much.

"Of course…" Lia sighed before she whispered under her breath, "If I got you a weapon, think you can implement your magic into it like with your Keyblade?"

"I think so." Marta nodded. "If I get a solid opening again, of course."

"Then I'll get you one." Lia nodded. "Ninjutsu Arts: Hidden Armory!" In another instance, a white cloud covered her hand and when it faded away, it revealed a second sword, a wakizashi that she slid over to Marta. The drowsy girl lifted it off the ground and held it like she normally would her Keyblade.

Lia coated her blade in gravity magic before launching a small sphere at Lexaeus which connected. As soon as the spell took hold, Lia shot forward, landing a cut on Lexaeus' face with his lowered defense.

Lexaeus grunted before he swiped his axe out at her, catching her arm. Lia grunted from the pain, but managed to not land on that arm and make it worse. Instead, she met Marta's eyes and saw the girl grinning as she waved the wakizashi. Understanding dawned on Lia and she smirked behind her cowl. In unison, the girls shot out and cut Lexaeus' legs.

Lexaeus grunted. "That won't help you," he said lowly.

"Maybe not...but this will!" Marta winked before she snapped her fingers, activating the spell she had imbued in her sword. "Slow!"

Lexaeus grunted as a white light surrounded him and his movements slowed.

"Now, Lia!" Marta cried.

Lia didn't need to ask what she meant, making another hand seal to summon several shuriken which she threw at Lexaeus. This threw him back and trapped him to the wall.

Of course, what she hadn't counted on was a bracelet Lexaeus wore to suddenly glow. When it faded, Lexaeus was now moving normally.

"What?!" Marta cried.

"Shit, a Counter Bracelet!" Lia cursed. "Marta, now!"

Marta shot forward and used Lexaeus' moment of distraction from removing the shuriken to use the wall as leverage to jump up and wrap her legs around his neck, locking tightly. As soon as the former Nobody was free, his hands grasped her legs.

"Not gonna be that easy, Mr. Silent Giant!" Marta grinned before she yawned.

"No, not now!" Lia cried, but it was too late. Lexaeus used Marta's weakened guard to slam her back into the wall, nailing her in the head and leaving her limp. Whether she was asleep or unconscious, Lia couldn't tell. As soon as she was slumped on the ground, however, Lexaeus turned to her and grasped his axe in both hands. Gulping, Lia raised her own weapon, prepared for anything.

Lexaeus ran at her, faster than she expected and batted her sword away as if it was nothing before stabbing his axe in the ground, causing the ground under Lia to rise just the slightest bit, throwing her over his head. Just as she righted herself, she felt Lexaeus grasp her neck and slam her head first into the ground.

As a last ditch effort to _possibly _survive this fight, Lia raised a hand and whispered a stun spell, causing Lexaeus' arm to go numb at the last moment, thereby lessening the blow Lia was about to suffer. Instead, she only suffered a strong sense of dizziness, instead of a possible concussion. Small mercies, she supposed as she reversed her grip on her katana and stabbed it directly into Lexaeus' leg, sending him kneeling to the ground beside her.

"Lexaeus...you fought...Master Riku...twelve years ago...in Castle...Oblivion…" She whispered as she felt her vision going dark.

However, she was gratified to see the realization settle over Lexaeus' face at her words.

He whispered, "Shit...he's gonna kill me...again."

Lia managed a small chuckle, before everything went dark.

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Marketplace

Kairi sat in an alleyway with her arms wrapped around her knees and her back against the wall of a church. Her eyes were glued to the floor, trained on a discarded ice cream rapper. Now that she was alone, she began to think - mostly about Sora. She thought about the mission they were on and she wondered where he was and what he was doing. More than anything, Kairi thought about his well being, hoping that he was okay.

The redhead was so lost in thought that she failed to notice when Roxas and Xion approached her. It was only when they stood right in front of her, Xion waving her hand in Kairi's face, that she realized they were there. The bounty hunters understood that Kairi had been lost in thought when her eyes fluttered as she exited her dazed state.

"Hey Kai…" Roxas began. "Everything okay?"

Kairi licked her lips and nodded with a forced smile. "Yeah. I was just thinking about what Vanille told us back in Villain's Vale."

"You mean about her home?" Xion asked.

Roxas added, "Yeah, I wonder what she meant about her home being destroyed."

"Did you guys tell Aerith about that?"

"I pulled Aerith aside while Xion took Vanille to look at some flowers to fill her in on what she said. I doubt that Aerith will push Vanille for any more information that she doesn't volunteer. She should be in good hands with Aerith."

"True…" Kairi said. "Well, we haven't ran into Naminé yet but I feel like her presence is getting stronger and stronger."

"Funny you mention that…"

The three instantly turned around, Kairi wincing as soon as her eyes met Naminé's.

"Hi...Naminé..." The redheaded Princess of Heart smile awkwardly.

Naminé simply glared at her, before sighing. "Not that I'm not elated to see the three of you, but would you care to tell me why you're here?" She asked. "It's not every day that you all visit, especially _without_ a call beforehand."

Roxas and Xion looked at each other uneasily but their attention was drawn to Kairi when the redhead said, "Sora's missing."

Naminé's eyes widened and she automatically moved her hand to her chest. "W-what?! What do you mean he's missing?"

Kairi told Naminé everything. She told her that Sora had not been home the previous night, that they were currently in search of him, and that a small circle of people in their friend group knew.

"Riku doesn't know?" Naminé asked. That was the most confusing part of Kairi's explanation for her.

"If I told him, he'd worry too much and decide to go after Sora himself and he can't do that with all his responsibilities." Kairi shook her head. "I know that things have been a bit uncomfortable between you two, and I know that I'd just be putting you in the middle of this, but Naminé, I-"

Now Naminé shook her head and said, "No need to ask. I owe Riku for giving me a second chance at life but you and I are practically twin sisters, Kairi - even if I wasn't born naturally. That being said, sisters need to have each other's backs."

Kairi moved in to hug Naminé tightly as she whispered with a cracked voice, "Naminé, you're the sister I always wanted."

A warm smile formed on Naminé's gentle lips as she returned the hug and softly ran her hand up and down Kairi's back to comfort her. When the two separated, Naminé placed her hands on both of Kairi's shoulders and asked, "So, what now? What can I do to help?"

Roxas chimed in, "Kairi's heart led us here for a reason. I know you're just hearing about this but could you ask anyone back at the castle if they've had any contact with Sora?"

"I can ask but I need to be careful with who. If I just go around asking all the scientists and guards, it'll raise suspicion. Would you feel comfortable if we went to Master Ansem?"

All eyes were on Kairi. She sighed and said, "I guess there's no way around it at this point."

Naminé rested a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "Kairi, I can't push this onto you so if we go to Master Ansem, I need to be sure that you're okay with it."

Kairi hesitated. The more people that found out about Sora, the worst she felt about keeping this a secret from Riku. It was bad enough that he was not the first person she told but she couldn't even imagine what he would say if he were to be the last. Then again, she had very little direction for this quest. She saw no other option so after taking a deep breath, Kairi looked at Naminé, sure as ever, and said, "Yeah. Let's go to him."

Naminé felt herself relax after finding confidence in Kairi's resolve and with that, she said, "Okay, follow me."

Suddenly, a menacing growl caught all of their attention. It was loud and deep, like that of a beast, but He was on His own home world so it couldn't have been Him. No, this growl came from close by - _very_ close by. Kairi went absolutely stiff as the others looked at her with puzzled expressions. After a quick moment of silence, they all erupted into laughter.

Xion asked, "Kairi have you eaten anything all day?"

Kairi's cheeks were as red as her hair. "Come to think of it, I haven't." She noticed Roxas was still giving her a funny look so she snapped, "What do you want me to say? I've been worried sick over your maker!"

Roxas crossed his arms, a smirk barely noticeable on his face. "Oh, so I should start calling him _Daddy_ now?"

Xion laughed and said, "When we find him, you should totally yell that at him and run to him with arms wide open!" This earned a laugh from the others.

As Naminé's laughter died down, she offered the others lunch. "I know you're all in a hurry and such but let's get something to eat at Scrooge's Bistro."

"He has one here too?" Kairi asked.

Roxas nodded. "He put one here like two years ago."

"Oh wow."

"What is it, Kairi?" Xion asked.

"Well it's just that I never realized until just now how long it's been since I've even been _off_ of Destiny Islands. After Sora and I left the Land of Departure, we never really found a need to go to other worlds." Kairi's gaze fell as she looked at one of the nearby barrels that sat against one of the stone walls. Kairi then looked back up at Naminé and said, "Anyways, you know that I can't risk being caught by Isa or anyone else that we know, right? We can't just have lunch out in the open. I appreciate it though, Naminé."

"How about this? I take you three to Master Ansem through the secret passages and while you guys talk, I'll go prepare you some lunches for the trip?"

Kairi smiled and said, "Thanks, Naminé. I really appreciate it." The two smiled at each other before walking with Roxas and Xion towards the castle, making sure to stay away from the main roads and walkways. Kairi knew she was going into the belly of the beast but Naminé did an excellent job of not being detected as they slithered their way through the city and inside the castle.

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle

While Riku was undergoing his investigation of the missing materia, he received a phone call from Ienzo who told him that two of his students were at the castle. Ienzo had treaded carefully with his words but Riku put it together pretty easily that Lia and Marta had gotten into it with Aeleus for some reason. Before making any judgments, he was going to make sure the girls were okay and get the facts. He was level-headed like that.

Riku was greeted at the castle entrance by Leon, now an official guard, who led him through the maze-like corridors of the castle until they arrived in one of the guest rooms. Leon then left Riku to return to his post. Inside the room were Ienzo and Lia. From what Ienzo told him on the phone, the girls were still unconscious when Aeleus brought them back to the castle, but Marta had woken up since then. When Riku noticed her absence, he asked Ansem's apprentice for her whereabouts.

Ienzo rubbed the back of his neck and said, "When the young woman woke up, she rushed out of here unexpectedly. Aeleus went to look for her."

Riku nodded. "Well she seems fine then. What about Lia? Has she woken up since Aeleus brought her in?"

Ienzo shook his head. "Unfortunately, she hasn't."

"Did Aeleus say if the girls used their Keyblades down there?"

"Not to worry, Riku. He said that Lia, here, produced regular weapons for them to use against him."

"That's just the thing. There's a reason to worry even if Lia doesn't use her Keyblade." Riku confused Ienzo. "The thing about Lia is that she has a unique power that can sometimes overwhelm her."

"A unique power?"

"Yes. It draws on some innate arcane magic from her homeworld that she doesn't quite have the best grasp of. In our three years of training she's been working to control that, more than anything. It's the original reason why I chose to do the rite of inheritance on her. She can wield a Keyblade with very little problem, but sometimes she relies a bit too much on her other power."

"I see. Aeleus did mention that she made weapons appear seemingly from nowhere, though I can't imagine it's much different from making a Keyblade appear."

"We don't fully understand it but she can do much more than just create weapons. That's actually one of the least draining abilities of her power."

"Not to step on your toes, Riku, but we'd be more than glad to run an analysis of her if you'd like. We could do a few studies and record our findings."

"Thank you, Ienzo. I'll mention the offer to her after our mission is over, but considering this outcome, I might have to send for someone to come get her and take her back to the Land. Until then, I should call my other apprentices to come here. Please excuse me."

Ienzo nodded as Riku exited the room with his gummi phone to tell Gia and Ryo to come to the castle. It did not take long before Gia was running down the corridor with breakneck speed.

"Master Riku! Where's Lia?! Is she okay?! Is she…?!" The thought of her sister being hurt, or worse, brought the silver-haired girl to tears.

Riku took a step back and waved his hands in front of her. "N-no, Gia. Lia's fine. She just used her Ninjutsu Arts."

"But she's not supposed to!"

Riku straightened out and said, "I _know_." He shot a disapproving look at Gia, which she did not immediately catch. She was so used to Lea that she forgot her place around other masters. Normally, this would not have happened but when it came to Lia, all forms of respect and manners took a back seat.

"Then what are we going to do to help her?!"

"Gia!" It was not Riku who shouted her name. The voice came from the doorway, where Lia clung to the doorframe, still weak. "Mind your manners around Master Riku. _Please_."

"Sis!" Gia shouted, running forward and practically _launching _herself into her sister's arms. For a moment, Riku was worried the green haired ninja would fall over with the surprise and added weight of her older sister. But his worries were for naught, as Lia managed to catch herself against the wall, leaning against it heavily to support her body. "What were you even _thinking_?! You know you can't use your Ninjutsu Arts right now! And what are you doing out of bed, you look ready to collapse at any second!"

"I'm up because I heard you screaming your full head off." Lia huffed, returning her sister's hug against her words. "And besides, I had no choice but to use them. You try fighting a guy with a giant _axe sword _without a weapon."

"What were you doing fighting Aeleus?" Gia gasped. "Did he confuse you for me?! I'm so sorry, sis! Lea told Ansem's guards to spar with me any time they saw me. It's my fault that you got hurt. I'm such a horrible sister!" She was devolving into a sniveling ball of snot and tears as she curled up on the floor. Her head shot up. "No! It's _Lea's_ fault." Suddenly, her emerald eyes were filled with a burning rage. "I'm going to make him _pay_!"

The entire time, Lia was trying to get her sister's attention. It wasn't until she slapped Gia's face that she got the silver-haired girl listened. Lia sighed, "Finally. I've been trying to tell you that it wasn't anything like that."

Ienzo entered the conversation. "You sister unfortunately got caught up in the middle of an investigation that Aeleus was doing in the Underground Fighting Circuit. Recently, we've been having a problem with illegal fighting that Aeleus and Isa have been trying to get to the bottom of."

"I still don't know how we ended up down there, honestly, but once we were there and they asked for volunteers, Marta got us into that." Lia sighed. "And I didn't know any better with Aeleus, so I had to treat it like a real fight, which meant I needed to protect the World Order. Thus, I used Ninjutsu Arts."

Gia protested, "But that was still too dangerous! You risked your health for something stupid! Wait 'til I find Marta. She's going to get an earful."

"Gia, I'm fine. Really."

Riku shook his head. "Lia, I think you should go back to the Land. I'll have Master Ventus come for you." He turned to Ienzo. "Would it be okay if she stayed here?"

"Master, please. I can keep going. I promise I won't use my Ninjutsu Arts anymore. If I'm faced with another situation in which I must defend myself without using my Keyblade, I'll use hand-to-hand combat. That's what you trained me for."

"What if you come across an opponent as strong as Aeleus? Hand-to-hand combat is an option but against someone as experienced in combat as he is, it might not be enough."

"Then I'll die fighting."

Gia did not like that answer. She liked what Riku said even less.

"The World Order comes before anything else. This is the way."

Lia repeated, "This is the way."

Riku nodded. "You should at least get some more rest. While we wait for someone to bring Marta back and for Ryo to catch up. Speaking of which, I thought he and Dilan were with you, Gia."

"W-we're right here, Master Riku." Ryo and Dilan had barely caught up with them, both out of breath.

"Wait, what happened to Marta?" Lia asked.

"Here." Aeleus walked up to them with an unconscious Marta over his shoulder.

"Did you knock her out again?" Ienzo asked.

When Aeleus noticed Riku looking at him, he flinched slightly. "N-no. She fell asleep."

"Yeah, Marta does that," Riku responded. "We'll take her off your hands. Just stand her up."

Aeleus gave him a questionable look but did as he said. To Ienzo, Dilan, and Aeleus' surprise, the girl stood up on her own once Aeleus let go. Her head was tilted but she had no problem keeping her balance on her own.

"Now that we're all together, may we continue with the mission?" Lia asked.

"Well Cid still needs to finish installing the Warp Gummi."

Ienzo suggested, "Well until then, why not stay for something to eat? We have plenty of food and you'll need to replenish your strength before you depart."

"Thank you, Ienzo, but we don't have much time to waste. Two of my own apprentices were attacked en route to rendezvous with us. We're on our way to meet with another apprentice on Crescentia."

"I've never heard of that world," the scientist responded.

"Well it's not like you're off this one much," Riku teased.

Ienzo laughed, "You got me."

Riku continued, "It's found in the Etherium Galaxy. It's a distant section of the World. I've only ever been once for exploration. Ienzo, I apologize for any inconvenience my apprentices and I have caused you and your colleagues, especially to you, Aeleus. If there is anything we can do to help during your investigation, the other masters and I would be willing to lend a helping hand."

Aeleus nodded. "That's very kind of you, Riku."

"I would also like to apologize for any injuries Marta and I caused you, Aeleus." Lia said with a bow as a sign of humility and respect. "It was my fault for encouraging Marta as I did."

"Do not worry, child. I did not give you much reason to trust me." Aeleus shook his head. "Besides, I did not recognize you, either, because I was focused on my investigation."

"We've never met before," Lia said. Aeleus glanced over at Gia then back to Lia. "Oh. Right."

Gia then asked, "What's your investigation even about, Mr. Aeleus?"

"Gia," Riku said sternly.

"But Master, if we're going to aid him, we might as well ask what's going on."

Riku shook his head. "We already have our mission. He can discuss the details with Master Ventus and Master Aqua."

"He's right, Gia," Lia said.

"M-Master Riku…" Ryo spoke hesitantly. "What shall we do in the meantime?"

"We can go back to Cid's shop. He should be close to finishing up and I didn't get any leads. Any luck on your ends?"

The apprentices, even Marta, shook their heads.

"What is your mission regarding?" Ienzo asked.

Dilan answered, "Gia mentioned something about missing materia. I told her that we knew very little of it. Just that we noticed the matter."

"Actually…" Aeleus began. "I believe that the underground fights might be pulling the materia away from the legal trade into the black market."

Gia shot Lia a look with her eyebrows raised.

Riku looked over at Gia and smiled. "Well, looks like we'll need to hear this after all."

* * *

**Location: **Radiant Garden - Unknown

"So, you wanted to see me? I'm honored!" A man with messy red hair hidden under a fedora smiled as he offered a bottle of wine to his guest. "Would you care for a glass? It's the finest wine I own."

"Oh, you're much too kind." The guest, a man with shoulder-length silver hair wearing a black leather outfit, smiled. "But you see…" he took a long pause before giving the other man an eerie smile, "Mother would disapprove."

The fedora-wearing man nodded as he gestured for one of his men to leave the bottle on the table and walk away. The boss then took a seat, sighing as he savored the taste of the wine. "Now then, what can I do for you?" He asked after he took a sip.

"Oh, this is nothing more than a status report, of course." The silver haired man smiled. "My brothers recently ran into a trio of brats and it appears they may become a bigger nuisance than expected."

"Oh? I thought the three of you would easily be able to handle some brats." The fedora-wearing man mused. "Is it possible you truly aren't as strong as you claim to be?"

"Oh, no, nothing of the sort." The silver haired man laughed before he sighed. "But it seems Big Brother has taken an interest in them...and of course, the brats' weapons are quite unique."

"Unique?" The fedora-wearing man repeated, now intrigued.

"Yes, it appears they wield large keys as swords from the information we've gathered and we've seen them use magic first hand." The silver haired man informed. "They're quite talented, but not nearly as much as we are. They shouldn't be too much trouble, but there are rumors that there are more of these 'Key-Wielders.'"

"How fascinating...this sounds quite like the stories of that boy from all those years ago..._very _curious…" The fedora-wearing man smirked. "And why would you share this with me?"

"Simple. If they show up here, Mother would like you to eliminate them." The silver haired man smirked. "Unless, of course, you're not nearly as committed as you've let on."

"Now, why would you _ever _doubt me?" The fedora-wearing man questioned, faux serious.

"Quite easily. I only trust my family." The silver haired man flipped his hair as he spoke. "However, I think I can trust you, just this once, that this 'New Order' will be no issue?"

"Not at all."

The silver-haired man smirked. "Very well then. That's all I'd like to speak with you about for now." He stood up and walked toward the exit. He then stopped and turned his head slightly. "We'll be in touch."

"Yes. Do give my regards to Our Lady." The fedora-wearing man tipped his hat.

The silver haired man said nothing. He simply smiled before vanishing through a Corridor of Darkness, leaving the fedora-wearing man to stew in his plans. "A New Order, eh…?"

* * *

**And there we are! So, yeah, our original plans have shifted around quite a bit, but the characters are telling us where to go, so we're just following their lead. **

**First off, the words Lia and Riku use, the "This is the way"? That's a reference to The Mandalorian on Disney+, courtesy of Legacy! I heard it's good (and has baby Yoda) so go see it!**

**And then there's Final Fantasy cameos galore! I'll admit, this was my first time writing Jecht and the first time I've written Snow in a LONG time, never mind our silver haired and fedora wearing men (guess who they are, everyone!). It's definitely fun finding ways to implement all of them and give them new stories in the KH universe (yes, Jecht will probably take his money and go to Destiny Islands to find Tidus, no I don't know if we'll ever show it). I have no idea who else we'll be adding, but there's a lot of possibilities!**

**Let's see...is there anything else...oh, don't forget to go back and check out the previous chapters and the encyclopedia! I promise, our changes created a very adorable character and I want to hear everyone's opinions on her! Leave a review to let us know what you think!**

**May your heart be your guiding key!**


	5. Chapter 5:Debriefing

**WolfieRed23: Hello everyone, we're back in a much shorter period of time! We had a bit of a creative burst, so to speak, which probably explains that. Dunno if it'll keep up or our schedules will continue to line up, but we'll see! Thanks to Antex-The Legendary Zoroark (Thank you for all the nice reviews, they mean a lot to us!) for reviewing, all 6 followers, 4 favorites and 269 readers! Now, this chapter was written mostly by Legacy with only one scene really written by me so I give most of the credit to them (don't believe anything they say against that). And here's a little message from them about the chapter too!**

**LegacyReturns: Hey guys, so let me apologize in advance for how exposition-heavy this chapter is, especially since, as the title suggests, the characters will be debriefing each other. There is a lot for each party to cover, after all. Not to be worried, though. This chapter will have character development and characterization for several OCs and canon characters you guys love. Anyways, Wolfie and I had lots of fun writing this so we hope you guys will have fun reading it!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Debriefing**

* * *

**Location: **The Land of Departure - Castle Gardens

The garden that Aqua and Sari tended to on a daily basis had become about the most peaceful area in the entirety of the Land of Departure so this is where Aqua brought her newest apprentice to for meditation. The woman and her apprentice sat with their legs crossed at the entrance to a grotto with a small stream of water running between them down off the edge of a cliff. They sat in complete silence, breathing in and out slowly as time flowed around them. The trees wafted in the slight breeze, the fish swam through the water, and the sun slowly pushed further away from the center of the sky, casting longer shadows by the minute.

Despite the calm environment, Alexina could not keep from shaking her leg. It had fallen asleep, making her uncomfortable and she could not shake the feeling from her thoughts. A single pale green eye cracked so Alexina could sate her curiosity. She thought it improbable that her master could sit there completely still and undisturbed even by her own thoughts so she had to see it to believe it. But it was true. Aqua sat with a peaceful look on her face. Having a daughter and, at the moment, three apprentices to look after had aged Aqua more than the woman liked or cared to admit so meditation was something she took to religiously for self care

Alexina closed her eye to try clearing her thoughts again. She took a deep breath and exhaled to relax herself. Not long after that, her mind began to stray, thinking about different things such as her home, her training, and _that_ woman. Suddenly, she shot up and said, "Master, I can't do this!" She let out a groan of frustration.

Aqua's face scrunched but melted into a calm smile. She looked up at her apprentice before cooly saying, "Alexina, you have to remember that meditation is not something that comes easy to everyone. Just like with everything, it takes practice, but more importantly, it requires effort." Alexina's gaze fell so Aqua said, "It sounds counterintuitive doesn't it?"

"It does."

Aqua gestured for Alexina to take her seat again, which the apprentice did obediently. "What are you thinking about when you meditate?"

"Nothing." Aqua knew better. She raised an eyebrow. Alexina sighed and said, "Well, I think about home."

"It's understandable to miss your home. When I was brought here by Master Eraqus, I too felt homesick. If it weren't for…" Aqua paused, which Alexina took notice of.

"Master?"

"Y-yes. As I was saying, if it wasn't for Terra, I wouldn't have been able to feel like the Land of Departure was my home. Do you regret leaving your home?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. When you came to my Thebes with the offer to train me on how to use a Keyblade, I felt like I'd finally found a way to save my father from Ares."

Aqua gave her a soft look. "Alexina, you must realize that as Keyblade wielders, we have a duty to protect the world order. There are some things that we cannot, in good faith, do, even if it means we keep ourselves from the things we desire the most."

Alexina simply nodded. She would figure out a way to preserve the world order _and_ rescue her father, as well as be worthy of the Keyblade that was to be bestowed upon her. Before they could resume the meditation, Maia's voice could be heard from around the edge of the grotto wall.

"Master Aqua!"

"I'm in here, Maia," Aqua called.

Maia's face brightened when she saw her fellow apprentice. "Lexi!" She then turned to Aqua and said, "Master Ventus has called for you in the main hall. He said something about a meeting."

"A meeting? We weren't expecting anyone."

"Should I tell him you're busy?"

"No, I should attend."

Aqua walked with the girls up to the castle entrance and into the main hall where Ventus stood with Silva in his arms.

"Look Silva, it's Mommy!" The child practically fell out of Ventus' arms to go to her mother but the blonde was quick to set her down gently so she could run over.

Aqua smiled warmly as she lifted her daughter into the air. Silva spread her arms wide and giggled as Aqua brought her back into her arms, in a secure hold. Aqua then asked her colleague, "You called, Ven?"

He nodded. "It's Riku and Ienzo."

"Is everything okay?" Her brow furrowed with worry.

Ventus shrugged. "I'm not sure. Riku just told me that he needed both of us here to listen to some developments."

Aqua nodded and turned to Maia and Alexina. "Girls, would you mind taking Silva to the playground in the back?"

"Of course not, Master," Maia said as she took hold of Silva and carried her outside.

Aqua and Ventus took a seat in their respective thrones and generated a light blue holographic wall in the center of the room. Ventus dialed Riku's Gummiphone and rested his own phone on his throne's armrest, which linked the device to the projection. When Riku answered the call, Aqua and Ventus could see a lot of familiar faces standing in Ansem's lab. There was Riku, the apprentices that were with him, Ienzo, Aeleus, and Isa.

"Aqua, Ven, can you hear me?" Riku asked.

"We can hear you," Aqua responded. "Hello everyone." Greetings were quickly exchanged between them all.

Riku opened the conversation. "Alright, we'll make this brief. So it turns out that our investigation might be linked to Aeleus and Isa's own local investigation."

"How so?" Ventus asked.

Isa stepped forward and began explaining. His hair had been cut very short to draw away any attention from himself during his mission. "Recently, we have noticed that there has been an increase in illegal activity going on in the Radiant Garden Underground." He was direct, almost militarian in his approach. His hands were held behind is back, straightening out his posture. His voice was dry and calm but he spoke eloquently. "From when we last spoke regarding the shortage of materia and the dwindling number of Moogle shops, Aeleus and I came across some information that a lot of this world's Munny was going through the black market so we decided to do an investigation, going under our Nobodies' aliases."

Ienzo added, "We believed that since Aeleus and Isa have been seen in public the least, they would be the best candidates to operate underground and our speculation was correct."

Isa nodded. "In a short amount of time, Aeleus became the champion of the Underground Fighting Circuit and we were close to meeting the ringleader of that operation until your apprentices appeared down there and I was forced to break my cover to save them and evacuate. Luckily, Aeleus did not reveal himself and will still be allowed entrance below."

Aqua asked for clarification. "So you believe that this fighting operation is the cause of the materia shortage in your world."

Isa and Aeleus both nodded.

"Well it does sound pretty likely," Ventus said. "So what do you propose be done?"

Riku answered, "We still need to find Sari and Rickson as well as spread our search out to Montressor since Rickson's Keyblade pointed in that direction so I'm requesting that reinforcements be sent to Radiant Garden while my team and I continue our previously assigned mission."

"Send more of our ranks out?" Aqua asked. She remembered that Kairi was looking into Sora's disappearance and had to consider that there could be someone lurking in the shadows just waiting to strike especially with what Jack had told her about the silver-haired men.

"Aqua?" Ventus asked.

Aqua blinked quickly and realized that all eyes were on her. She straightened herself out in her throne and said, "The leadership of Radiant Garden have been trusted allies of the Land of Departure so it is with a heavy heart that I must respectfully decline this request." This surprised everyone. "As Grandmaster of the Land of Departure, I have to think about the safety of this world since it is the first defense against the denizens of darkness. There have already been too many slips in our defenses recently and in order to protect the balance between light and darkness, we have to keep the Land standing. We cannot weaken our defenses."

Ienzo bowed his head respectfully. "We understand, Aqua."

Ventus disagreed. "Aqua, the sooner we get to the bottom of this, the quicker we can pull all our defenses back to the Land of Departure. I can go with Mahir to offer a helping hand with Aeleus and Isa's investigation. After all, I couldn't think of a better candidate to help with the infiltration than Mahir."

Aqua had her back against the wall. She needed to convince Ventus and Riku that this was not the best course of action. "We need to think about this carefully because this could mean risking not only a Master, but an apprentice as well." Aqua retorted. She knew, it was logically sound argument.

Ventus responded, "Aqua, you heard them. Our own apprentices interfered with their investigation. Put aside the fact that they're our allies and that their work might directly tie into ours. We are liable for anything the apprentices do. We should assume responsibility by lending a helping hand."

Back against that wall again. Just like last time, Aqua redirected. "Wait, which apprentices?"

Before Gia could make an outburst to protect her sister, she was cut off by Lia. "It was Marta and I." Her head was held high. "We were investigating for our own mission and ended up involved in a fight against Aeleus. To protect the world order, I summoned weapons for us to use."

"But that means‒" Ventus cut himself off before he shot a worried look at the holographic ninja, one Aqua felt mirrored on her own face. "Lia! Don't tell me-"

"Yes, I used my Ninjutsu Arts." Lia confirmed. "It was the only way to both protect the world order and our identities."

"But it all worked out! See? Lia's fine, and so am I!" Marta grinned, knocking the side of her head as if to say 'knock on wood'.

Aqua had a questionable look on her face. One that said that she was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the team Riku had put together. Ventus, too, was growing concerned for Lia's safety and how any future incidents could affect her and the rest of the team.

Riku told his colleagues, "It's true that Lia may have used her unstable power but this is what I'm here for, to make sure she doesn't go too far off the deep end."

That's when Lia realized why Riku had joined the team so last minute. It was because of her. He had doubts about her ability to lead a team on such a delicate mission when she couldn't control that damned power of hers. Lia's fist tightened and her gaze fell.

Ventus noticed the change in her behavior. "Lia looks fine to me, Aqua. I really think Riku's team should continue with their mission and I should take Mahir to Radiant Garden. The longer that Jack is alone on Crescentia, the more vulnerable we leave him for his attackers to finish the job. Not to mention that Sari and Rickson haven't reported to us since yesterday. Finding them should be our priority, even above these investigations. We're on a timer, here, so I think we should put it to a vote."

Aqua sighed. Despite having a rank higher than Ventus and Riku, she always respected majority rule. "If you two think this is the best course of action, then that's what we'll do." She did not like how this meeting turned out but was unable to do anything about it except hope for the best outcome.

"I'll go fill Mahir in and we'll make our preparations," Ventus said. "We'll be there within the hour."

Riku nodded. "Understood. Cid called me just before this to let me know that he's already installed the Warp Gummi that I paid him for so we're going to Crescentia now."

Before the call adjourned, Isa said one last thing. "Ven, I look forward to your arrival."

"Me too." Ventus smiled and nodded before shutting the call off. He then looked over at Aqua, studying the worry marks on her forehead. She was clearly uneasy by his and Riku's decision but he did not understand why.

"Aqua," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. When she looked back at him, he reassured her, "Everything will be okay."

"Ven, we're stronger together and now it feels like we've never been more separated." She also referred to Sora's disappearance, Terra's absence, and just how distant they'd been with their friends and allies lately. Aqua realized that she had just denied Ansem's people aid but what could she do given everything that was on her plate?

"You're right. We are stronger together. That's why we have to build bridges, not burn them. We might be divided physically but that doesn't mean we have to be divided in our beliefs and mindsets too. As long as we work together, with each other and our friends, there isn't anything to worry about."

Aqua cracked a smile. "How do you always do that?"

Ventus was confused. "Do what?"

"How do you always manage to see the good in the bad?"

"I don't know. I like to believe in my friends."

"That must be where Sora gets it from…" Just saying his name made Aqua feel the sting of guilt that she had been trying to ignore.

"I can tell you miss how things used to be. When Sora and Kairi lived here with us. When Terra, Roxas, and Xion visited more frequently. When Naminé actually talked to us. I miss it too. It felt like we were all a family and-"

"And now it feels like all of them are just people we used to know."

"Yeah…" Ventus' sapphire eyes fell. The two of them were quiet for a moment before the blonde continued, "But now's not the time to dwell on what could be or what could've been. Now's the time for us to get to work." He stood up from his throne and walked toward the stairs but stopped before descending them. "You'll see, Aqua. Things will turn out better."

Ventus was gone. Now that she was all alone, Aqua slumped in her seat and looked up at the ornate ceiling. She muttered to herself, "I sure hope so."

* * *

**Location: **Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle - Ansem's Study

Ansem the Wise, the great scientist and researcher, had been the ruler of Radiant Garden for several decades, but his power had been usurped for thirteen of those years. Since the end of the Second Keyblade War, Ansem had returned to his position as leader of his world and a man of science. It was this very science that brought about the near destruction of the entire universe all those years ago so to atone for his sins, Ansem's was an all-around more empathetic and generous man. When Naminé requested that he speak with Kairi, Ansem gladly provided the redhead some of his time. He had even told Ienzo that he would no longer be going to the lab for the meeting with Riku and the other Keyblade masters because Naminé had expressed urgency and discretion in the matter.

Ansem met with Kairi, Roxas, and Xion in his personal study - his thick walls preventing anyone from hearing the conversation they had. There, Kairi explained her journey to the man and waited for his advice. Ansem stroked his gray beard with his thumb and index finger. He was thinking, carefully considering everything Kairi had told him, including the secrecy that she was working under.

Despite keeping a calm front, Kairi was choked up on the inside. She needed any sort of advice that could send her in the right direction. She did not even notice that when he began speaking, she made a slightly audible gasp.

"Kairi, when was the last time you set foot on this world?"

The redhead was going to answer but she needed to think about the answer. "When Sora and Riku‒I mean Xehanort's Heartless‒fought here." The answer shocked Roxas and Xion, both of whom had been to Radiant Garden at least a dozen times since their conception.

Roxas asked, "Kairi, are you serious?" Kairi nodded.

Xion reiterated the question. "You never came on a mission here while you lived on the Land of Departure?"

She shook her head. "Honestly, I think I've always just tried to stay away from this world _because_ of my last visit. There was never a need for me to actually come here so I never did." Ansem had been silent during this exchange so Kairi looked to see what he would say next but when she noticed that he was giving her a knowing look, she thought about why he asked about her last visit. Then it dawned on her: he knew the answer before asking it. "You think that has something to do with why I was brought here."

He nodded once. "In all of the discussions regarding the inner workings of the heart that I've had with King Mickey, the one thing that those discussions all came back to is that the heart seems to have some sort of connection to other hearts."

"Hey, didn't Sora say that he followed hearts to find yours when Xehanort-agh!" Xion cut Roxas off by elbowing him in the ribs.

"Yeah...he did. So does that mean that he vanished again? Was he using the Power of Waking again? No, that can't be. My heart didn't lead me through other people's hearts. He said that that's how he found me."

Ansem continued. "You must keep in mind that worlds also have hearts and hearts have memories. I hypothesize that these memories are a key part to the essence of a person and therefore, a place with a strong connection to the memory will lead you ever closer to that person if your heart wishes deeply enough and the connection is strong enough."

Kairi processed Ansem's advice. She slowly followed his train of thought. "So you mean to say that...if worlds have hearts and by extension memories…" Ansem nodded along. "Then that means that my heart led me to Radiant Garden because the world is remembering something?"

"I believe that it remembers something that links you to Sora."

"It remembers when Sora gave his life for mine."

"That could be a possibility. Shall we test that hypothesis?"

"You mean...go to where it happened?" Kairi was hesitant. She was not haunted by memories of that day because she had repressed them, choosing only to look at what she had in her life rather than the tragedies of her past. Now that Sora was gone in her life, she realized that she had to face those tragedies. Kairi's grip tightened as she nodded. The others could sense the conflict in her but also the resolve that came after. She was serious about finding Sora and it was clear that she was not going to let anything come between her and achieving that goal.

* * *

**Location: **Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle - Ansem's Lab

After the call with Aqua and Ventus ended, Riku turned to Ienzo and Aeleus to discuss some final details regarding the arrangement he and Ventus pushed for. Isa would be filled in on those details later. Two of his guests caught his attention. The blue-haired man walked toward Gia and Lia, greeting the twin he was already familiar with.

"Gia, it's good to see you," he said.

Gia turned to Isa and rushed him with a hug. "Isa!" she said excitedly.

Isa welcomed it with a single hand on her back. "It's good to see you, Gia. I'm surprised to see you without Lea, though."

"Hothead had another mission or something," she waved.

"Yes, he told me before he departed from the Land."

"Worried about him?" Gia teased.

Isa smirked and shook his head. "Never." His eyes shifted over to Lia, which made her stand as straight as she could. There was nothing wrong with her posture before but first impressions were important to her. "You must be Lia. Your sister talks a lot about you." He placed a hand forward.

Lia met it and politely responded, "I am honored to meet one of Lord Ansem's elite guards."

Isa gave a curt nod. "I'm impressed with the skill you showed today, Lia. Perhaps once your and Gia's training is complete, you two could join the guard."

Gia teased, "You just want Lea back home without a reason to leave again."

He was stoic as he turned to Gia and said, "You, on the other hand, need a long way to go to complete your training. Dilan told me what happened in the courtyard."

"Stupid Muscle Head," Gia muttered under her breath.

Isa turned back to Lia and said, "Please do consider my offer. Both of you. And Gia, you know you're always welcome at my house whenever you visit. That goes for you as well, Lia. Just give me a call. May I see your Gummiphone, Lia?"

"Yes, of course."

He quickly saved his phone number in Lia's phone and handed it back to her before excusing himself and exiting the room to reunite with his colleagues.

Ryo approached the twins and said, "Ms. Gia, you're v-very familiar with the castle guards."

"Well this is Lea's home world so we stop by here every once in a while during our travels. I like coming here because when we do, I get to stay at Lea and Isa's house in their guest bed."

"Master Lea and Mr. Isa share a house together?"

Lia responded, "They're married. You didn't see the ring on Isa's finger?"

Ryo's eyes widened by how insensitive he must have sounded. He stammered while trying to explain himself. "I-I-I-I didn't mean them any d-d-disrespect!"

The young women laughed and reassured their fellow apprentice. Gia said, "You don't have to apologize, Ryo. I had no idea Lea was gay until I actually came and met Isa."

Gia was an anomaly to Ryo. For some reason, she had no trouble putting Ryo at ease, something Lia had seen her fellow apprentices try and fail. This put a smile on Lia's cowled face.

At that moment, Riku walked back in and said, "Alright team, let's get going back to Cid's shop."

* * *

**Location: **Land of Departure - Outer Courtyard

Mahir carefully eyed his surroundings, watching the seemingly docile Flood Unversed that had him surrounded. There were six of them, three in front of him and three behind him, but none of them moved. _Any second now...any second...now!_

At the exact moment Mahir jumped in the air, the Unversed who were behind him leapt forward, attacking right where he had been standing previously. Quickly, the thief adjusted himself in midair so he could land on his feet, skidding slightly as they touched the ground.

A second later, another Flood leapt at him and Mahir raised his Keyblade, Golden Wonder, to lock the claws aiming for his eyes in place. Using his leverage, Mahir pushed the dark creature away. Unfortunately, another Unversed took his moment of distraction as a chance to go for his unguarded legs.

Quickly, Mahir attempted to step back, out of the way, but he wasn't fast enough. He grunted in pain as the dark creature's claw scraped his ankle before kicking out with his uninjured foot to send the Unversed into the air, allowing him to cut through it with Golden Wonder. He then spun the Keyblade in his grip, cutting through two more Floods that attempted to attack his seemingly unguarded back.

That just left three.

Mahir moved swiftly then, barely able to be seen as he shot towards the three remaining Floods, who met his challenge head on. He dodged the first one that leapt at him, punched the second one with his free hand so it fell to the ground and backflipped right as the third one leapt, his extended legs hitting the Unversed as he did so. In midair, Mahir twisted his body so he landed in kneeling position, stabbing the Flood he kicked directly as he landed.

He rolled out of the way of the last two remaining Floods before quickly using his Keyblade to slice at both before they got the chance to attack again.

_That just leaves…_

As soon as the thought crossed the thief's mind, the Bruiser Unversed that had been waiting for him jumped right behind him. Moving as fast as he could, Mahir stood up and turned, only to earn a sharp smack across the side of his head.

_Damn, too slow..._he mentally cursed himself, backflipping a second later to avoid another hit. That was when he saw his opening.

When the Bruiser swung again, Mahir ducked under the swing at the last possible moment, using the Unversed's open stance against it and digging Golden Wonder right into its neck, where a human's jugular vein would be.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the Unversed burst into darkness and Mahir could distantly hear clapping behind him.

"Not bad, Mahir." Ventus praised him, an easy smile on his face as the dark aura around him faded. Instantly, Mahir banished his Keyblade and bowed.

"Thanks, Master." He said. "I've still got some improvement to go but pretty soon, I won't have to call you Master anymore, am I right?"

Ventus chuckled. "What makes you so sure you're ready for your Mark of Mastery?"

"Well, I just feel it, Master."

"The confidence is good. Just remember not to get too cocky. Anyways, I think this is a good time as any to end your training for today. We're heading out." Ventus said, entirely serious as his smile faded. Mahir straightened with a confused expression on his face.

"Wait, seriously? But we just sent out Master Riku and the others. Why are we needed?" The thief questioned, confused. He knew that. excluding Lea, Aqua didn't like sending out more than one master at a time for any jobs, it was an unspoken rule that two would remain at all times at the Land of Departure.

"Something came up in Radiant Garden and we need to focus on it as well as the case with Jack, Sari, and Rickson." Ventus explained before a small smile grew on his face. "You up for it?"

"Yes sir, Master!" Mahir grinned even as he politely bowed. As he straightened up again, he smiled wider. "When are we leaving? What's going on there, anyways?"

"We're supposed to leave by tomorrow morning at the latest. Come on, I'll explain while we head back to your room." Ventus gestured back to the castle.

Mahir nodded in agreement and followed behind his master. Things just got _very _interesting, if he did say so himself. Maia was going to be so jealous!

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Ansem's Castle - Grand Hall

Kairi stood in front of the double doors that led to the grand hall. Ansem waited for her to give him a signal that she was ready to proceed. Roxas and Xion stood behind their friend, ready to support. With a heavy sigh, Kairi said, "It's time. I need to go in."

Ansem nodded before turning to unlock the doors. They opened with a long groan until they hit the wall, sending a booming thud deep into the hall. The sound echoed back, sending chills up Kairi's spine. She took a step back but Xion wrapped her hands around the redhead's, patting her back to encourage her.

"You can do this," she said warmly.

Kairi smiled and closed her eyes. She took slow deep breaths and one step forward. Then another and then another until she stood in the hallway where her former fellow Princesses of Heart were kept while Xehanort's Heartless crafted the Keyblade of Heart. Her gaze lingered on the spot where Belle once stood captive in stasis. Ansem and his former apprentices had ridden the room of the pods that once held the princesses which eased Kairi.

The young woman continued forward to the staircase, which she forced herself up. The first step was the most difficult, or at least that's what Kairi hoped. Each step after the first became more sluggish with gravity dragging the redhead's feet. Halfway up the staircase, Kairi just stopped and turned around to face Roxas, Xion, and Ansem.

"I can't do this."

Roxas approached Kairi and put his hands on her shoulders. "Kairi, we're not making you do anything you don't want to do but I want you to know that you _can_ do this. You've done harder things before."

"Like what?"

"You stood by your friends as a Guardian of Light against the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness."

"Yeah and look what good that did us. I cost Sora his life for a while. I know he came back but that doesn't mean death has no consequences." Roxas and Xion raised an eyebrow at her. "You guys weren't dead!" She crossed her arms. "Your hearts were in Sora's."

Roxas responded, "Yeah and thanks to him we're all alive."

He was right. Sora had given up everything for her and their friends. Even when he had nothing left to give, he somehow managed to give more and all with a smile on his face. Kairi needed to find him. There was no question about it. Without any hesitation, Kairi turned on her heel and marched up the staircase, finding herself in front of the balcony that Sora and Xehanort's Heartless fought on. It was smaller than she remembered but at the time, she was running for her life from the Heartless.

Kairi took several steps forward and closed her eyes, reliving the moment but not from her point of view. She saw the events unravel from Sora's. She could feel dark energy spilling from the Heartless machine that glowed with various darkened colors. She could feel the weight behind Riku's swings. Above all, she felt the determination that came from Sora. He knew that he could not lose that battle. There was no thought that crossed his mind except the thought of saving Kairi. "I'll never let you have Kairi's heart!"

Kairi realized that she had yelled that out as she swung Destiny's Embrace out as if she were the one pushing Xehanort's Heartless back. Her eyes widened with shock when she realized how heavy her breaths were. Sweat beaded down the side of her face. Adrenaline pumped inside her as if she were mid-battle. Then the fatigue of battle came and she lost her balance, staggering backward until Roxas caught her.

"Woah! Kairi, are you okay?"

Kairi's eyes fluttered. She had trouble keeping them open. "W-what happened?"

Ansem answered, "I believe that you just re-lived one of this world's memories through Sora."

"Is that possible?" Xion asked. "Because it felt like watching some kind of possession."

"Out of respect for the Princesses of Heart we have never ran tests on them, so there is still much we do not know about them and their unique powers. Kairi is the only princess to have retained both the title and pure heart once Xehanort's Heartless was defeated. She is an enigma in every sense of the word."

Kairi had regained control of her balance so she stood back up, thanking Roxas for catching her. She heard everything Ansem said and thought about what that meant for her and how that could help her on her mission.

Xion asked, "What if your heart led you here to see that moment in time?"

"I'm sure that it did," Kairi responded. "But the question is why? Why did I have to remember that?"

"Maybe it's to get you closer to Sora," Roxas suggested.

"You think it's taking me to him?" Kairi clutched her chest and said, "Ansem, thank you. You've been a great help but I think that we need to go. I think my heart will take us to where we need to go next."

Ansem nodded. "I do not doubt that. I will continue to think upon this. Please contact me if you learn anything new so that I may aid you in any way that I can."

"I will. Thank you again, Ansem." Kairi put her hand forward to shake the man's hand. With that, he led Kairi, Roxas, and Xion back to Naminé so they could be on their way.

To Kairi's dismay, Naminé had heard from Dilan that Riku was inside the castle. Ansem chuckled at the irony. He said, "Young Kairi, it seems fate has intentions that stray from yours."

Kairi's gaze fell. Her voice was low as she said, "I need to decide my own fate, Ansem. I can't tell Riku yet."

Ansem sighed. "I do not feel right keeping this from him, Kairi. I kept much from him during our tenure as associates."

Xion chimed in, "Before you make any decisions, I have to ask, do you know what Riku is doing here?"

"From what Little Ienzo told me, he and some of the apprentices from the Land of Departure are currently on a mission."

Roxas asked, "Did Xion's boyfriend say what the mission was?" Xion was not amused. She glared daggers into that spiky head of his.

Ansem did not acknowledge Roxas' comment about his former apprentice. He simply answered, "He mentioned that it was regarding the shortage of materia, something that has happened here and apparently, across all worlds."

Kairi answered, "I hadn't noticed any shortage, but then again, the Islands are one of the few worlds Moogles don't inhabit."

"We had," Xion said. "We actually haven't synthesized anything in months and the prices at Moogle Shops have gone through the roof."

"We've faced the same dilemma," Ansem added.

That's when Kairi struck. "This means that Riku has to stay focused. You mentioned he had apprentices with him. As much help that learners can be, it also requires attention and focus to lead them. If Riku can't properly lead them, then there'll just be more losses."

Ansem sighed. He was now faced with the same dilemma that everyone else who knew of Sora's disappearance had been plagued with. Ansem regretted that he too would have to share his decision with the rest. His eyes closed and he shook his head. "Kairi, I will not tell Riku. But in exchange, you must never tell him that you were here. He must not know that I have betrayed him."

"More lies…"

Roxas placed a hand on Kairi's shoulder and said, "It doesn't have to be this way, Kairi."

She looked back at him, guilt clear on her face. Kairi's face hardened as she grit her teeth and sighed. "Yes. It does." She turned back to Ansem and said, "You have my word. He will never hear of this."

Roxas and Xion shared a look. The blonde stepped forward and said, "I won't throw you under the bus, Kairi, so I'll promise too."

"Same."

Ansem nodded solemnly. "Thank you. Is there anything else that we can do for you before you leave?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, you've done more than I could have asked for. Thank you."

Ansem nodded and turned away from them, walking down the corridor and around the corner. As he walked away, he chuckled to himself, "Little Ienzo Xion's boyfriend." He was out of range for the young adults to hear and now, they remained in silence. No one knew how to break it until Naminé felt it best to remind them that they were on a mission. She then led the three through an intricate pathway of corridors until they were back in town, where Naminé found them. They had successfully avoided Riku...until they heard his voice around the corner.

Kairi really started to panic. She looked everywhere for a way out of this dilemma. There was nowhere to run or hide, except one place. Her nose crinkled with disgust.

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Market Place

Riku led his team through a shortcut that he knew of the city, wanting to get to Cid's as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, he did not know it as well as he thought he did, resulting in them getting lost through a long string of alleyways.

"Master Riku, I think we should've made a left back there," Gia said.

"No, that's a dead end. Besides, I think this is the way to the church. I can find my way back to Cid's shop from there." Riku's eyes widened when he saw some old faces. "Roxas? Xion? Naminé..." His voice had taken a steep decline from excited confusion to painful discomfort.

The blonde squeezed her arm and looked off to the side. "Riku."

Riku looked back over at Roxas and Xion and said, "You guys! What are you doing here?"

Xion was quick to answer. "Well considering that this is one of the few worlds that still has Moogle Shops, we're here on a supply run and we ran into Naminé." Riku tried his hardest not to look at the blonde when Xion mentioned her name. "What brings you here with the daycare?"

"You're one to talk," Gia responded. "Are you on summer break right now or are you just ditching school?"

Xion laughed. "Aw, Gia, are you saying I still pass for fifteen? I'm flattered." The black-haired woman went over to hug Gia. "And you must be Lia! We've heard so much about you!" Before Lia could offer a handshake, she was wrapped in a tight hug.

When Xion released her hold, Lia said, "So I've been told. It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Xion. Master Roxas."

Roxas shook his head, "No need to add 'Master.' We were never inducted into the Order. Just call us by our first names."

"Hey Roxas, get a load of this one. When did we have a child together?" Ryo sank his head into his shoulders and avoided eye contact with the stranger.

Riku chuckled and said, "Now that you mention it, he does have Xion's black hair and pale skin, but that hair is all Cloud's. Roxas, Xion, this is Ryo and she's-"

"Hi there! Where are we? Who are you two? I'm Marta."

"Awake," Riku finished.

Marta continued, "Do you guys want to-" And just like that, she was back asleep.

Roxas and Xion looked at each other confused. Though she said nothing, Naminé shared the sentiment.

"And that's Marta," Riku finally said.

There was a strong thud from one of the barrels which caught everyone's attention. Gia was quick to summon Faerie Whytkin.

"W-what was that?" Ryo asked.

Naminé was quick to answer. "Probably just a cat trying to get into that fish barrel." Her grip on her arm tightened.

Gia made her Keyblade disappear. "Oh, so that's what that smell was. Hey, Master Riku, can we get out of here? The smell is kind of making my head hurt."

"Well, we should get going, either way," he said. "Roxas, Xion, Naminé, it was great to see you guys."

"Likewise," Xion said. She went to hug her friend and said, "It sucks that we only ever see you passing by."

"I know, but the work never stops."

"We understand," Roxas said. "Our job doesn't exactly give us much free time either. You should give us a call one of these days, though. You know, whenever you get the chance."

Riku smiled. "Yeah, I will. Well, we'll be on our way." As he passed by Naminé, he offered a very small smile, one that felt much bigger to him because of all the effort that went into it. Naminé simply kept her arms crossed and looked forward.

Riku and his team soon arrived in Cid's shop where he found the man mid-conversation with a woman in her thirties with long brown hair. This was yet another familiar face ‒ Tifa.

"Riku," she said with a smile.

"Hi, Tifa. How are you?"

"Well I'm perfectly fine, but Cloud…"

Ryo whispered to Gia, "D-didn't he m-mention that name earlier?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did."

"Is he okay?"

"That's the thing. I don't know. Cid was just telling me that you're currently on a mission. I'd like to come with you."

* * *

**[Bonus Scene] Location:** Market Place

Kairi kicked the lid off the fish barrel and tipped it over with her weight, spilling its contents all over the floor.

"Kairi!" the others yelled as they tried to keep the fish and the water they soaked in from touching their shoes.

"Well _excuse me_ but I think you all forgot about me while you were being chummy with Riku!"

Roxas nudged Xion with his elbow. "Ha! Chummy. Like fish. I get it."

Kairi grunted as she stomped away from them.

* * *

**WolfieRed23: Yeah, remember that completely innocent mentioning of the fish barrels...? Surprise!**

**Sorry there's not a lot of fighting this chapter, but we had to set up a bunch of stuff, involving the plot AND all the characters! Still, this was a fun chapter to work on, planning out how all the characters would interact and stuff while keeping track of who is involved in what plot and knows what information. And, of course, plenty of little hints for future developments (cause Legacy and I going AU into this, did you expect anything less from me?)**

**In any case, we're gonna get back to chapter planning now and see where we decide to go from here! Hope you all enjoyed and we'll probably be back sometime after Re:MIND comes out! Who knows?**

**May your heart be your guiding key!**


	6. Chapter 6:SYOC REOPENED

**Wolfie: Hey, everyone, bet you didn't to see us again so soon! Well, we've got a bit of an announcement to make...**

**You guys remember back when this story first started and I said someday we could reopen the SYOC part of this fic. Weeeeeeellll...the day has finally come! Legacy, take it away!**

**Legacy: Before you guys continue reading this, I'd like to provide a SPOILER WARNING for Kingdom Hearts: Dual Destinies. Once you go past this, there is no turning back. Luckily, it's a very mild spoiler that you would discover within the next two chapters anyway, so I wouldn't say that it's the end of the world if you saw this spoiler. Anyways, are you ready to continue? Are you sure? Alright…**

**Firstly, I'd like to give some background information about why this SYOC is necessary. Since Dual Destinies takes place 10 years after KH3, a lot has changed and one of those things is that Marluxia and Larxene have regained their Somebody forms as Lauriam and Elrena. The two have fallen in love and have returned to The World That Never Was to reform the world and renaming it to Midnight City. Now how would they reform it? By giving it an active nightlife. The problem is that even if the city is now bustling, Heartless appear rather frequently still.**

**That's why the Reapers exist. The Reapers were once mindless Reaper Nobodies under Marluxia's control during KH3 but since then, those that survived past the 2nd Keyblade War have obtained a human form much like the original Organization XIII and later developed hearts just like Roxas. The difference though, is that these Reapers have been inspired by the Reapers from The World Ends With You meaning that yes, they have the black wings and can turn into Noise similar to how Marluxia had his second form. For the purposes of this story Noise will sprout from Marluxia/Lauriam because of his connection to death. The role of Reapers is to protect The World That Never Was from Heartless similar to the role of Huntsman from RWBY serve as a military force to kill the creatures of Grimm. Much like the Keyblade Wielders, the Reapers all share a weapon in common: a scythe. While Reapers may be unable to truly vanquish the Heartless, their lives are dedicated to protecting Midnight City and the people that live there.**

**Elrena's Ninja Nobodies have also undergone the process of regaining their human forms and hearts, though not all have obtained the status of her personal bodyguards. This small group of individuals are the equivalent to the Anbu Black Ops in Naruto or the Secret Service in real life, fiercely loyal to the one their serve. Unlike the Reapers, who are scythe specialists and have monstrous Noise forms, Elrena's Ninjas are capable of using a variety of weapons and specialize in Thunder magic like they could in their mindless Nobody forms.**

**Moving forward, we will most likely not be accepting any Keyblade wielding characters since we already have 10 apprentices and a few more other characters who will also be able to use Keyblades, but we wanted to stay true to the origin of this story as an SYOC. I look forward to all of the characters we receive from your guys and I offer my thanks to those of you who continue reading our hard work.**

**Wolfie: Couldn't have said it better myself! You'll notice down below that there's a Reaper and a Ninja counter. As we get (and accept) OCs, I will update that count so you guys can know when we're all set. This'll all be on my profile too, so you can find it and the rules at any time! Next chapter may be a bit delayed as we try to figure stuff out, get new OCs and see what Re:MIND gives us to work with, so it may be a while until we see you all again. Thank you for your patience and anyone who decides to send us a character to use! Have fun everyone~!**

**Reapers: (3/?)**  
**Ninjas: (0/4)**


	7. Chapter 7:Crescentia

**Legacy's A/N: Hi! I hope that everyone has been doing well considering the situation the world is in right now. Despite having a lot more time now, I haven't really worked on this story because I've been working on the plans for a couple other stories I intend on posting on my account (shameless plug). Wolfie's been crazy busy through all this coronavirus, business, still so the blame's pretty much mine, haha. We had a good chunk of the chapter finished already so we finally decided to sit down for a few hours and write out the rest of it. Hope you all enjoy it! Oh! And a huge thanks to everyone who sent in an OC or is currently working on an OC. This story wouldn't be possible without the contribution that the readers provide with their OCs. As of right now, we are STILL ACCEPTING OCS so please send them in if you have any ideas for them. Heck, if you want to make a minor villain OC to play a decent sized role in the plot, that'd be appreciated too! Just make sure to give us heads up so we can pm you a form specifically for villains.**

**Wolfie: I don't have much to add, Legacy covered a lot of what I wanted to say (except don't believe them for a second, this is just as much my fault as theirs, I wasn't even the one who brought up finishing this chapter yesterday, that was them!), but I DO want to say that I hope all of you are well and are staying safe (I'm a person who works in health care myself, so I know how scary this all is, so just make sure you wash your hands and follow whatever rules your state or country has put in place!) and that this chapter can bring even just a little smile to your face. Ah! Almost forgot! Thanks to Antext-the Legendary Zoroark (Thank you for the nice words!) for reviewing, all 8 followers, 4 favorites and 553 readers! Now I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Crescentia**

* * *

**Location:** Radiant Garden - Marketplace - Cid's Shop

Riku seemed uneasy. At least, that's how Lia would describe her master when he heard that Cloud had gone missing. "How could someone just up and leave without telling their friends, not even their wife, goodbye?"

Cid answered, "He told me, g'bye." Tifa shot daggers at him and rightly so. He wasn't helping the situation. Cid held his hands up and backed away from the woman. He knew what she was capable of. "H-he also said somethin' else. Somethin' about feeling some kinda disturbance. He said he needed to face his darkness?"

"Sephiroth." The word came from Riku and Tifa simultaneously. Despite never hearing his name, all of the apprentices felt the air shift. It was the kind of name that rose hairs and chilled to the bone. Whoever this Sephiroth was, the apprentices could tell by their master's demeanor that he was not to be taken lightly.

"Do you see why I need to go with you?" Tifa asked.

"Well, I see why you're worried. What about Denzel and Marlene?"

"Cid's agreed to watch them."

"Kids'll sleep comfortably at my place," he said as he wiped the dust off of his goggles before placing them back on his head.

Riku still seemed hesitant to let her come. "Tifa, are you sure? It's been a while since you've been out in the field."

"Of course I'm sure," she said with conviction.

Riku sighed. "Alright. I'll give you half an hour to get ready."

Tifa pulled a backpack off the ground and slung it over her shoulder. "No need. Ready when you are."

* * *

**Location:** ?

When Sari came to, pain was lacing up her entire body. With a small groan, she opened her eyes and pushed herself up as she examined her surroundings.

She was in...a forest or swamp, most likely. All around her were trees. She could see broken branches above her head where she probably made her less than stellar entrance (she winced in brief guilt for that), and she was pretty sure she could hear what sounded like animals swimming in water not too far away. Altogether, not too bad considering she _crash _landed, but...she was alone.

Fear struck Sari's heart as she shot up, ignoring all twinges of pain as she pushed herself to her feet and looked around the bushes nearby. Maybe she missed him...maybe he was still unconscious…

Maybe…

But no, he wasn't there. And Sari's heart began to race in fear and worry. Why wasn't he there? What could've happened to him? They fell together, didn't they? So...why…?

Panicking wasn't going to help her, not now...she needed to calm down and look for him. At the very least, he was _somewhere _on this world. She just had to find him.

"Don't worry, Ricky. I'll find you." Sari whispered, her hands clenched in fists right over her heart.

Without another word, she walked off into the foliage, determined to find her boyfriend before his own worry got too bad. Sari told herself that they would be fine and they'd be heading back home before they knew it, she just had to believe that. Everything would be fine.

* * *

**Location:** The Ocean Between - Just Outside Radiant Garden

Kairi, Roxas, and Xion sat inside the Gummi Ship, discussing their next course of action. After the revelation they'd had from meeting with Ansem, it seemed like they were following the right path by letting Kairi's heart lead them.

Roxas placed a hand on Kairi's shoulder as he said, "Remember, Kairi. Just focus on Sora. If what Ansem said is right, then the worlds will call out to you like Radiant Garden did."

Kairi placed one of her delicate hands on Roxas's larger, gloved hand and smiled up at him warmly. He truly was Sora's other. No one else could put her at ease as easily as him.

Roxas smiled back and said, "Let me know when you're ready." He then removed his hand from her shoulder and walked over to his seat at the head of the ship.

Kairi nodded to him and took a deep breath so she could concentrate on what her heart was telling her. It was a strange feeling to her at first when she first learned to use this power but over time, it had brought about feelings of warmth and confidence in her as a Keyblade wielder. Despite being so familiar with it now, she could not describe it to an average person if she wanted to. The feeling was like a sixth sense. When her heart had locked onto a signature, she summoned her Keyblade and aimed it forward to open a portal to their next destination.

* * *

**Location:** ?

A tall, lanky man walked through the dark and damp streets of New Orleans on a rainy evening, his back hunched and his hands crammed deep into his pockets as he tried to keep the droplets from touching his exposed skin. The large tophat he wore assisted with that. Though he was uncomfortable with his damp clothes clinging to him, he could not have been happier. After all, he had just hit the jackpot earlier that day and had no fear confronting his "friends on the other side" on this particular evening.

He approached his magic shop and flung the doors open with little care for damage. He was far too excited to care, his violet eyes wide with madness and his large teeth on full display by his crooked grin. Soaked dress shoes marked the wooden floors of the workshop with wet grime as the man made his way to the back where some sort of shrine consisting of large totems loomed over him on the wall.

"Friends!" he said, greeting them with as welcoming a demeanor as any man could provide. "I know that I'm in hock to ya'll pretty deep already, but seems our froggy little prince lost his way and I need your generous assistance getting him back." The faces scowled with annoyance as the violet glow in their eyes brightened with emotion. This did not seem to bother him as he laughed confidently. "I hear you! Now what's in it for ya'll? Well, I just so happen to have something to pay my outstanding debt to ya'll."

Behind him sat Rickson, his long violet-streaked red hair, which was usually tied in a ponytail, was now loose, unruly, and dampened by the rain from outside. The young man had been restrained by a string of totems that glowed bright violet from the eyeholes like the larger ones on the wall and was, at the time, unconscious.

The largest totem, the one in the middle, looked to the others, unsure of what the man intended with the boy. Taking note of this confusion, the man continued to say, "He may not seem like much, but I guarantee that this soul is one that'll interest ya'll. Why not have a taste?" The man practically licked his lips excitedly. Once again, it was the central totem that looked to the others for counsel. They all shared intrigue so it opened its mouth, parting its knife-like teeth to produce a swirling vortex of green mist. From it, a shadow slithered across the floor until it wrapped around Rickson. Suddenly, the central totem's eyes burned brighter, blazing with cackling flame licks. The others seemed excited as well as they watched their leader become more powerful. More shadows spawned from the central totem's mouth and wrapped around Rickson, completely covering him in a black filter. The lanky man began to roar in laughter as the shadows that once encircled Rickson now raced off through the door in hot pursuit of the "froggy little prince."

* * *

**Location:** Crescentia

Another warp jump and a couple hours later, and Riku, Tifa, and the apprentices had arrived at the crescent satellite port that orbited Montressor. Gia's second warp jump was not as bad as the first for her. She had not vomited, but the breaking apart and reconstructing of her body at the molecular level was disorienting and nauseating, nonetheless. Though it took a moment for her head to stop spinning, the rest of the flight to Crescentia felt very smooth. This was her first time in a Gummi Ship with Riku, but she could tell that he had plenty of experience flying ships.

As the Highwind neared the port satellite, the apprentices marveled at its size and activity. People scurried throughout the port, all running in different directions, for different reasons and with different people, and they all even looked different too! Gia could see that some of Crescentia's inhabitants had an animal-like quality (she _swore _up and down when she saw a _dog-like_ inhabitant, similar to Goofy) while others had a more human-like one. And even without that, all the activity was a rather _large _departure from the Land of Departure itself.

Whereas the Land of Departure was a rather small town, Crescentia was a bustling metropolis, with people coming and going on structures similar to pirate ships, yet they appeared to be made from Gummi blocks all the same. It was incredible! Gia felt even more vindicated as she gazed at her fellow apprentices, who were all in various shades of awe similar to her, well, except for Marta, who was either asleep again or had already seen worlds similar to this one. She couldn't wait to get down there and explore, hopefully with her sister this time. Gia and the other apprentices did not have to wait long since Riku was able to find a vacant dock where he left the Highwind suspended in space as they all exited their vessel.

Riku approached a three-eyed creature that held a clipboard in one of its three-fingered hands and a pencil in the other. The silver-haired man dropped some munny into the dock worker's hand to cover the docking fee and led the others into the port.

The port was even more extensive up close than from above, filled with people of all sorts and species running to and fro, focused on their destinations and not on the people around them. Gia honestly wondered how anyone could find what they were looking for in chaos like this, feeling just the tiniest bit claustrophobic with so many people surrounding them.

"Master Riku!"

Thankfully, or perhaps not, it was debatable, a familiar voice called out right then...from right beside them, causing Gia to jump up at _least _a foot in the air. Her hair, practically standing up from fright. She could tell her sister was stifling laughter, even through her fortified combination of cowl and mask, so she glared at her, only getting twinkling eyes shot back at her in return.

"You made it, thank goodness." Jack grinned brightly up at Riku, drawing Gia's attention once more.

Riku looked down at the apprentice, who stood about four and a half feet tall, even shorter than the twins. The man smiled down at Jack in return, glad to see him in one piece. "Jack, it's good to see that you're alright. You are alright, aren't you?"

"Not a scratch on me," Jack said with his arms stretched out to emphasize his point. "I am a bit hungry, though. Did you guys bring anything to eat?"

"Back on the Gummi Ship," Riku said. "Jack, who had the keychain from The Caribbean?"

"Rickson, sir." Jack answered promptly, falling into the expected attitude of apprentices meeting a master easily. "He was the most compatible with it, so we entrusted it to him."

"Right...that makes this a bit tricky then…" Riku hummed thoughtfully as he observed the entire party he had accumulated. "Alright, here's what we'll do: Jack and I will track down Rickson and Sari, see if there's a way to get a signal on either of their Gummi Phones since they haven't been answering our calls. The rest of you will follow the materia trail here, see if you can find the source of the thefts."

"Oh! Oh! I heard something about that!" Jack's eyes widened as he eagerly jumped up to get the group's attention. "I overheard something about a map to Treasure Planet being found and a group was going after it! I think their ship is the _RLS Lega_…_Lego?_"

"You mean that ship over there?" Marta pointed out as she snapped awake before slumping sleepily once more.

Just as Marta pointed out, there was a boat at a nearby dock, named the _RLS Legacy._ It seemed to be getting ready to depart since most of the sails had been opened and the engine hummed, getting louder by the second.

"No! It's leaving!" Gia yelled.

"We can't lose that ship," Riku said. He looked directly at the helm of the ship, focusing his vision on that exact spot. Everything around him began to slow down and blur in his periphery. When he had marked the exact spot he needed to go to, Riku glowed with a bright purple aura around him.

Lia turned to ask him what they were going to do, but found that he was no longer next to her. Only a trail of fading light effects was left behind. Riku, on the other hand, stood right next to the captain of the RLS Legacy, a humanoid woman with cat-like features.

"My word!" the woman exclaimed. She was not afraid of Riku, just slightly startled. She coughed into her gloved hand and then placed both hands behind her back as she asked, "Sir, where did you come from?"

Riku failed to answer her question. Instead, he responded with one of his own. "Are you the captain of this ship?"

"Why...yes I am. Who would like to know?"

"My name is Riku Hinode. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you before you depart from this port. Your life and the lives of everyone on this ship could be in jeopardy."

The captain eyed Riku suspiciously. Though she did not know him or trust him, she knew that she could not take his words lightly. She looked him up and down before finally telling him, "We can go speak in my private quarters _only_ if you answer this question. Where did you come from?"

Riku smirked and said, "I'd have to tell you that in private as well."

Amelia continued eying him before she finally conceded with a sharp, militaristic nod and gestured further into the ship, no doubt where her office was, and Riku followed, leaving the apprentices staring after him in shock that was so silent and so deep, they looked like statues...for all of five seconds.

Gia broke the silence by saying, "Wow! How did he do that?!"

Lia wore a grin as she said, "That's Flow Motion. It's a technique only the masters can use."

"Lea's never done anything like that," Gia said, pouting in disappointment and wondering if her master had been holding out on her all this time. Ooooh, if that was true, she was really going to kill him this time!

"He probably never learned to do it. I've never seen Master Aqua do it either, but she's a master nonetheless. All that matters is that it's a very advanced technique. Not one, we're ready for."

"Well, I mean, yeah! By this point, if any of the apprentices would know how to do that, it'd be us."

Lia acknowledged her sister's statement with a simple nod, leaving the silver-haired woman to fawn over the ability, while she, herself, turned to Jack and asked, "So Jack, what happened to you and the others?"

"Y-yeah, you're not the kind of guys to mess up that easily." Ryo nodded in agreement.

Jack scowled, hearing Ryo call his performance on his mission a mess up, but ignored him to answer Lia. "We were on our way here when we were ambushed by two silver-haired men. It was strange. They didn't need any armor to protect them from the darkness."

"Silver hair is a sign that someone has let darkness into their heart," Lia explained.

All eyes went directly to Gia. "Hey! Don't look at me! I'm the sweetest person you'll ever meet!"

"Then how's your hair silver?" Marta, obviously more awake now, asked while tilting her head to the side innocently, a finger tapping her chin.

Tifa laughed as she explained, "That's more of a general trend, rather than a law of nature."

"Yeah! Besides, my dad has silver hair! Duh!" Gia stuck her tongue out childishly.

"Plus Ienzo has silver-ish hair," Tifa added. "Riku's is silver too."

"To be fair, he did let darkness into his heart, once," Marta pointed out.

"Don't let him hear that," Tifa said with a finger on her lips. "This is something to be concerned about, though. My husband, Cloud, had a dark half a long time ago by the name of Sephiroth. If these men you encountered are connected to him, then we might be on the right trail by looking for the missing materia."

"I'm glad you agree, Tifa, because you're following it." Riku stated as he returned to the group at that exact moment. "Lia, Marta, the two of you, Gia and Ryo will be joining Tifa in following the materia trail on the _RLS Legacy_. Jack and I will track down Rickson and Sari in the meantime. The Captain, Amelia, understands the situation and has decided to keep it between the five of you, herself, and the first mate, Mr. Arrow. Thus the five of you are posing as her personal crewmembers. Keep your heads low, but your ears open. So you guys can know where we're going," he turned to Jack and asked, "what area were you and the others in before you were separated?"

"We were in the eastern sector of the Mistry Stream, just passing by Arendelle and Agrabah."

Gia interjected, "Oh! Lea and I were just in that area! We'd just left Agrabah before going home to the Land, but we went to a bunch of different worlds over there."

"I'm not too familiar with the worlds down there," Riku explained. "Before we started taking in apprentices, Sora, Kairi, and Ventus took most missions in the Misty Stream. Aqua and myself mostly stayed at the Land to keep it safe, and only went on missions in the Starlight Stream to stay close. After all, our bounty hunter friends were able to cover the rest and keep us updated."

"Master Roxas and Master Xion," Lia said.

"They never took the Mark of Mastery, but I'm sure they'd appreciated that you hold them in such high regard," Riku joked with his apprentice. "Gia, since you're familiar with the area, I'd like you to come with us."

"Really?!" Gia cried excitedly, her eyes sparkling."Let's get to it, come on, Lia!" She wrapped an arm around her sister and pulled her towards the Gummi Ship.

"Actually Gia, I think Tifa will need Lia on their mission. Ryo is still fairly new and Marta's...Marta."

"Hey!" Marta protested. Two short seconds later and she was snoozing again, though.

"B-but she and I just reunited after going so many months without seeing each other."

Lia shook her head and slipped her arm out of her sister's hold. "Gia, we've been given our orders. Think about the people that need you right now. Besides, it'll be good for you to get used to fighting with other styles outside of mine and Master Lea's. We won't always be your mission partners, after all."

Gia didn't like it but she did as Riku and her sister told her, walking with her new, smaller team back to the Highwind. She turned around to look at Lia, who offered her a small smile and wave. Gia returned the gestures and turned back to follow Riku and Jack into the ship.

When Lia turned towards the RLS Legacy, she was met with a wall of red obscuring her vision. "Excuse me, Ms. Geraldine, was it?" The voice came from above. Lia looked up to find that the wall had a face and clothes, even a black hat.

"Um...yeah, that's me."

Sounding as professional as anyone could be, the rock man informed her, "Captain Amelia has requested that you and the rest of your team board the ship at once. We are prepared to disembark."

"Oh! Yes. I apologize for keeping you all, Mr…"

"Mr. Arrow."

"Mr. Arrow," Lia repeated to end her sentence.

The rock man stepped aside so Lia could lead the others up the ramp and onto the ship. Mr. Arrow followed and gave orders to retract the ramp so that the ship could leave port. He then took them to the captain's quarters for some privacy. "I'd like to welcome you all aboard the RLS Legacy. Captain Amelia has informed me of your mission. I'd like you all to know that while on this ship, you will all be assigned jobs to provide the facade that you are sailors. Ms. Geraldine, you will be my personal liaison with your team, but I need you as a hand on deck."

Lia nodded and allowed Mr. Arrow to continue. "Ms. Lockhart, I will be appointing you as Dr. Doppler's personal bodyguard. Between us, neither the captain nor myself think much of the crew that the doctor has hired. You too will be a hand on deck, but make sure to always keep the doctor within your field of vision.

"Understood. Where would I find him?"

"He should be at the helm of the ship with Captain Amelia. Mr. Grace-"

Ryo jumped. "Y-yes, sir?"

"You will be down in the kitchen with the chef, Mr. Silver, and the young Mr. Hawkins."

"Y-yes sir."

"And that leaves Ms. Lesia."

"Ooh! Can I be up at the tippity top of the ship? Pretty please?"

Mr. Arrow nodded and said, "The crow's nest for you then. Do you all understand your responsibilities while onboard this ship?"

They said in unison, "Yes, sir."

"Very well. To your stations, then."

Lia and the others exited the captain's quarters to take their temporary posts. Mr. Arrow locked the door behind them and went to the deck to direct the crew for take off. Lia stood by him, while her teammates dispersed, all watching the departure in process. The sails glowed a bright golden color as they picked up solar winds and Crescentia shrunk behind them as they sailed through the stars.

"It's strange seeing the Ocean Between without glass in between," Lia said to herself. It was loud enough for Mr. Arrow to hear, though.

"Oh, yes. In other galaxies, ships are shaped differently, aren't they?"

"Yes. Our Gummi Ship has wings instead of sails and a protective dome around a cockpit. It doesn't need as many people to pilot, either."

"They're much smaller, though, are they not?"

"Yes, they are. You know, this ship does remind me of my home, though. My true home. They just sailed through clouds, not stars."

"The civilizations in these parts started out similarly."

As Mr. Arrow and Lia talked, they noticed a growing murmur coming from the deck. They both went to see what was happening only to find a brown-haired adolescent boy, an insectoid, and a cyborg in the middle of it. The insectoid held the boy up against the mast but released him when his arm was twisted by the cyborg.

"What's all this then?" Mr. Arrow thundered as he made his presence known to the crew. "You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage." He approached the insectoid and looked him in the eye with conviction. "Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"

Scroop was hesitant to respond, looking rather annoyed, but finally agreed. "Transparently…" he said reluctantly.

"Well done, Mr. Arrow!" the cyborg cheered as the crowd broke. "A tight ship is a happy ship, sir!" Though Mr. Arrow left, Lia lingered behind. She noticed that Ryo was nearby as well. The cyborg picked up a mop at the other boy's feet and said, "Jimbo, I gave you a job-"

"Hey! I was doing it until that bug thing g-"

"Belay that! Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless and heaven help you if I come back and it's not done. Morph?" A small, gelatin-like creature with large eyes floated over to the cyborg with a curious look in his eyes. "I want you to keep an eye on this pup. Let me know if there be any more distractions."

As the cyborg faced away from the "Jimbo," (better referred to as by his actual name, Jim), he found himself facing another young adolescent, this one with black hair and a pale face. The cyborg's mechanical eye made a buzzing sound as it adjusted itself to take a good look at him "Another cabin boy?"

"Y-yes, sir. I-I'm Ryo."

"Well put 'er there, lad. You can call me Mr. Silver. Be a sport and help Jimbo out with mopping the deck, will 'ya?"

"Y-yes sir! Right away, sir!"

Mr. Silver handed him a mop and began walking towards the stairs that led down to the kitchen. While doing so, he noticed Lia, who was standing at the bottom of another set of stairs that led up to the helm of the ship. He eyed her, making sure to offer a flattering smile to her before continuing down below deck. Lia watched him carefully after what Mr. Arrow had told her and the others about the crew. She made a mental note to keep an eye on them before leaving to go with Mr. Arrow.

Now with only one other person on the deck, Ryo thought he should introduce himself to his fellow cabin boy. "H-hello…" Jim's brown eyes rose to meet Ryo's green eyes, though he seemed very sullen.

"Hi," he said weakly before dipping his mop into the bucket and squeezing out the water.

"S-so you're J-Jimbo, correct?"

"No, my name is Jim. _Jimbo's_ the stupid nickname that that freak keeps calling me."

"Mr. Silver? But he protected you from M-Mr. Scroop."

Hearing Ryo's words seemed to have stricken a chord inside Jim. The brown-haired boy looked out into the Ocean Between, letting that sink in. When he looked back down to continue ringing out his mop, he told Ryo, "Yeah, I guess you're right. So what brings you onboard? You don't seem like the others that Delbert hired."

"That's because I'm not."

This caused Jim to eye Ryo curiously, making the other boy feel nervous. Ryo scrambled through his thoughts, trying to remember what Riku had told Tifa and the apprentices about their arrangement with Captain Amelia. "Um...uh...yeah, we've sailed with Captain Amelia before so she asked us to come along for this trip. I-It's supposed to be dangerous so she thought it best to bring people she could trust. N-not that she c-can't trust you, of course!"

Jim chuckled, "Don't worry. I barely know that lady. She doesn't have much reason to trust me. No one on this ship does, really."

"Well I trust you," Ryo said as he squeezed the water out of his own mop and began mopping.

"How come?"

"I don't think you're a bad person, Jim. I can just k-kinda tell, you know?"

Jim nodded along to Ryo's words and smiled. "Yeah. I get that same feeling from you. You're alright, Ryo. Come on, we've got a lot to work to do."

Ryo smiled back at him. "Yeah." The two spent the rest of the day cleaning the deck spotless from top to bottom.

* * *

**Location: **The Ocean Between - Near the Dark Margin

As Kairi, Roxas and Xion gazed down at the world Kairi's heart had led them too, there was no denying the unease Kairi felt in her heart. After all, if she was following Sora's heart, then what did it mean that they ended up first in Radiant Garden and now...here of all places?

The world she was staring down at was yet another world she had been taken to when kidnapped. Formerly known, as The World That Never Was, it was a world with dark skyscrapers that stretched up to the sky and rain fell more often than the sun ever shone. It was a world that looked like an eternal night, lit only by the buildings it housed. It was a world that now went by the name Midnight City.

"Why would Sora's heart lead me here?" Kairi questioned aloud, confused.

"I'm not sure, but it could be worse." Xion smiled in conciliation. "I mean, we could've ended up on a world filled with people who wanted to kill us."

"Yeah, no, we're not going back to the Coliseum any time soon, I'm not letting Phil rope me into fighting _more _Heartless only to fight a Titan sent by Hades to kill me or Sora _again_." Roxas sarcastically stated, earning a small laugh from Kairi, which seemed to be his goal as he smiled slightly.

Xion quipped, "Still, it looks like Sora's trying to remind you of all those times he saved you."

"Right, like I need a reminder," Kairi said, unknowingly sounding resentful.

Roxas and Xion glanced at each other. Roxas asked, "Everything okay over there, Kai?"

Kairi blinked her eyes rapidly and said, "Um...yeah. We should get going."

"Where?" Xion asked.

"Well I connected to Sora's heart on Radiant Garden when I was in a place tied very closely to us, so I imagine it would be the same here."

"Where would that be, though?" Xion was full of questions that day.

This time, Roxas answered, "If I were a betting man-"

"Which you are," Xion cut in.

Roxas rolled his eyes as he continued, "Then I'd say that it's at the top of the Castle That Never Was or now known as Rose Castle."

Xion threw her hands up, exasperated. "Right, of course. We just have to go to the most heavily guarded place on this world, which is now under the control of our former colleagues, who guess what? Know Kairi. How are we supposed to get her there without Lauriam and Elrena knowing?"

"Yeah...Ansem is one thing, but this is a whole different situation. Especially since they'll know as soon as we dock." Roxas nodded in agreement, trying to puzzle out a solution.

"Kairi. Are you _sure _you don't want to just tell Riku what's going on? Truly sure?" Xion questioned, turning to Kairi with deadly serious eyes.

Kairi fell silent, hesitant in a way she hadn't been this whole trip as she pulled her Gummi Phone out of her pocket and just...stared at it. The interior of the Gummi Ship was dead silent as the bounty hunters waited for her answer. Kairi just stared down at her phone...and opened her mouth to answer.

* * *

**Wolfie: And there we are! So quick explanations: yes, Riku has a last name now, all the guardians will and shall pop up as needed (Hinode means 'sunrise' in Japanese, fitting his dawn theme, cause dawn in Japanese wasn't as pretty sounding). And yes, finally, after so long, we have finally given you the twins' full names! Combine that with the flashback dream from a few chapters ago and I'm sure you can figure out just who the twins are supposed to be and who their parents are! And now we have three plots on three different worlds happening at the same time! It's gonna be fun, I know it! **

**Also, as Legacy said before, we ARE still accepting OCs and just so everyone knows, I'll keep track of how many Reapers and Ninjas we have at the chapter ends. Also, do let us know if you have any villain OCs, we will do our best with them as well!**

**I don't have much else to say, but everyone please stay safe and healthy, okay? The world isn't ending, but focus on yourselves and families first. I'm gonna do my best to and I know Legacy will too. We'll get through this, just like most of you did waiting for KH3 for so long. **

**We'll see you all again as soon as we can!**

**May your heart be your guiding key!**

**Reapers: (3/?)**

**Ninjas: (1/4)**


	8. Chapter 8:Gnawing Guilt

**Wolfie: Hello, everyone! Hope you're doing well! It's been a little while, but we hope this chapter makes up for it, it's REALLY long (it could've been longer even, but Legacy and I decided to cut it shorter). First off, thanks to ShadowWolf223 (Thank you!) and Antex-the Legendary Zoroark (I'm glad you're enjoying, hopefully this chapter is a delight!) for reviewing, all 9 followers, 6 favorites and 649 readers! Now, this chapter is affectionately known by Legacy and myself as the Musical Chapter and we had fun writing it! Also, all previous chapters and the encyclopedia have been updated with new information, so feel free to go back and reread!**

**Legacy's A/N: Wolfie and I recommend you read one scene while listening to the song "Ma Belle Evangeline" by Jim Cummings and another while listening to the song "Dig a Little Deeper" by Jenifer Lewis.**

**Wolfie: Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Gnawing Guilt**

* * *

**Location:** Ocean Between - Misty Stream

The Highwind soared through the stars, Riku's grip on the handles was tight enough to make his knuckles blanch from inadequate circulation. He was going to find them. He needed to. This was the only thing he focused on throughout the flight, not having said a word to the apprentices after telling Jack to keep calling Sari on his Gummi Phone when they left Crescentia.

Gia felt uncomfortable. Though she had spent the whole day with Riku, she was not yet comfortable with him. Not to mention that she was even less familiar with the other apprentice, Jack. She hoped Lia would accompany her to ease her into the overall dynamic of the group. Being the only apprentice to always be away from the others left her feeling excluded. This uncomfortable feeling Gia was experiencing manifested itself physically as she sat with her feet on her seat, hugging her knees. She thought about her sister and hoped that everything was okay with her.

Gia broke from her thoughts when a Gummi Phone rang. She looked over to Jack who scrambled to answer his but the young man only found a black screen.

"Kairi?" It was Riku's Gummi Phone.

"H-Hi Riku…"

Riku noted that she looked concerned and that her hair was slightly messy, indicating that something was wrong. "Kairi, what's wrong? You're inside a Gummi Ship."

"Y-yeah...so are you," she pointed out. "A-are you on a mission?" Kairi twirled a strand of her hair. Riku had come to know that as a sign of anxiety. He could tell that she was nervous. "I'm sorry to interrupt if you are. W-well I'm sorry r-regardless. You're so busy, after all."

"Kairi, it's okay." Riku switched the ship to autopilot to give Kairi his full attention. His voice was soft as he said, "Just tell me what's wrong."

Kairi inhaled sharply and she looked up from the screen. Her eyes blinked a couple times as they became glossy with tears that threatened to spill.

"Kairi?"

She looked down at the screen, a tear trailing down her cheek and dripping from her chin. She forced a smile as she wiped her eye and said, "Riku, I need you to make a promise to me, please."

"Kairi, you're starting to worry me."

"Please, Riku."

With a sigh, the Keyblade Master reluctantly said, "Sure, anything."

Kairi took in another breath and said, "I need you to promise me that no matter what you're doing, you need to stick to your responsibilities."

Riku wanted to say no, but he knew that Kairi wouldn't tell him what she needed to say if he did. "I promise."

"Sora's gone."

Riku's eyes widened with confusion. "Gone? What do you mean gone? Gone where?"

"I-I-I don't know where he is, but I'm looking for him, I promise. Roxas and Xion…" Kairi looked to her right then back at Riku. "They're with me. They're helping."

Riku didn't believe what he was hearing. "They didn't mention that they were on their way to see you."

"That's because they weren't...I was already with them. I-I hid from you on Radiant Garden and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I've been keeping this from you since I found out last night and I just kept dragging people into this to keep you from finding out."

"B-but why?"

"Riku, you're busy and you have people counting on you. Sora is your best friend. I know he means a lot to you, but I didn't want you to drop everything on your plate for him. I know it was wrong of me to keep this from you, but you have to understand, Riku…"

The silver-haired man bit his lip and looked off to the side. He didn't know what to make of what he just heard.

"Riku?"

"Kai...Kairi, I...where are you?"

"Riku, I can't tell you, because then you're going to come. You promised. Please, let us handle this."

Riku pursed his lips and sank into his seat, unsure of what to do now. "Kairi, you expect me to just abandon Sora?"

"You're not abandoning him. I expect you to trust me to find him."

"Trust you? Kairi, you've been hiding this from me. I _can't_ trust you!" Kairi was shaken by his sudden outburst, as were the apprentices, and even Roxas and Xion off screen. After a heavy breath, Riku sighed and said, "The honest truth is that I couldn't drop my current mission even if I wanted to, so I have no choice, but to leave Sora to you for now. But Kairi, I want you to know that as soon as I finish here, I'm going to look for Sora. It would be easier to help if you told me where you are. Otherwise, I'll just be going from world to world aimlessly."

Kairi nodded. She knew that this wasn't the end of the matter, but considering that he was unavailable at the moment, she knew that, at the very least, he knew. Now she could proceed with the search without hiding it any longer. "Call me when you can come, and I'll tell you then." Riku nodded. "Riku...other people besides Roxas and Xion know, but I made them promise not to tell you."

"You've always been a fan of promises." A memory of Kairi and Sora sharing a paopu fruit flashed into the redhead's mind. "Who else knows?"

Kairi shook her head. "I know this will only make you angrier, but I can't tell you. I think it's only right if they tell you when they're ready."

"_If_ they ever become ready," Riku corrected. "You know, you're casting a lot of doubt among everyone. I hope you're proud of yourself, Kairi. I've got to go. We'll be in touch." Riku clicked on her, put his Gummi Phone away, and went back to flying the ship. The interior of the Highwind was silent before, but the tension in the air was now palpable, making it hard for Gia to swallow the lump she had been holding in her throat. She and Jack shared a glance but exchanged no words as they allowed their leader to drive in silence.

* * *

**Location: **Midnight City

Kairi had never actually walked around through the streets of Midnight City, even when it was named the World That Never Was. When Saix had taken her from Axel, she was warped directly into a cell inside the Castle That Never Was through a Dark Corridor. Unlike Radiant Garden, which had become a safe place to be in after being restored, Kairi never wanted to return to this place, especially since it was so close to the Realm of Darkness and as such, had a huge problem that made it practically uninhabited.

And yet, despite all the hardships living in such a world would no doubt create, Midnight City _wasn't _uninhabited in the least bit, with some of its population all having the ability to defend themselves and this world from the forces of darkness, as effectively as any member of the New Order could.

Even still, despite knowing all this, Kairi still felt much better knowing she had Roxas and Xion at her side, especially since the two often visited Midnight City in order to gain information regarding their bounty hunting targets.

She was also extremely grateful that Roxas let her borrow a jacket, considering it was _pouring _in Midnight City.

"Why does it always rain when I'm here?" Roxas sighed, ducking his head down so the rain didn't fall into his eyes.

"Maybe you're bad luck?" Xion guessed with a cheeky grin, happily brushing her wet bangs aside as she stared straight ahead. For a reason Roxas apparently couldn't fathom, but Kairi completely understood, Xion loved the rain. It was the opposite element of the one that her dear friend favored, yet together the two elements made a beautiful sunset, just like the ones on Destiny Islands.

"Thanks, Xion." Roxas laughed sarcastically, shaking his hair to free it of raindrops, similar to a dog, but not gaining the effect he wanted. The rain still fell down his cheeks and forehead, causing his hair to stick uncomfortably.

"Maybe it's a rejuvenating rain, meant to heal this world." Kairi mused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear under the jacket Roxas provided her's hood. "So you bringing the rain is like you're bringing healing to the world, attempting to wash the darkness away after so long."

"That was…" Roxas trailed off, his eyes darting to Kairi in wide eyed surprise, as if he couldn't believe the words she spoke.

"Really poetic, Kairi." Xion grinned as she finished her partner's sentence. A second later, however, her smile fell. "If only it actually worked."

Kairi looked up in surprise, only to narrow her eyes for a split second after. A pool of darkness surrounded the group and, of course, Neo Shadows began to writhe and shift as they rose from the pool, surrounding the group of three Keyblade Wielders, outnumbering them easily five to one.

"Damn, they ambushed us!" Roxas cursed as he quickly summoned Two Become One. "Stand back to back, don't let them sneak up on us again!"

"Right!" Xion nodded, quickly summoning Oathkeeper and following Roxas' stance almost exactly. Kairi could see the years of experience the two had of fighting side by side, back to back, in who knows how many life threatening situations. From their time in Organization XIII to every job they ever took as bounty hunters together.

And yet, they trusted her enough to leave part of their backs to _her_, of all people. She refused to let them down. Summoning Destiny's Embrace into her hand, she turned her back to the two bounty hunters and nodded firmly.

"Okay!"

From that point, there was no more time to discuss strategy at all.

The Neo Shadows swarmed, their claws striking out with the intent of cutting the three puny humans to pieces by the sheer force of numbers they had on them.

But that was their first mistake.

When the first strike of claws came towards her, Kairi swung Destiny's Embrace, catching the claws on the Keyblade's shaft. In the next instance, she had cast a small Water spell, just the barest amount, before casting a Blizzard spell right after and the rain that fell around her created a shield of ice, blocking the claws she could not catch. The moment her shield formed, Kairi threw back the Neo Shadows she caught and kept them away with a quick Flower Shoot. The Neo Shadows screamed as the light attack hit them, the blue veins of their body brightening in reaction to their screams.

Roxas, on the other hand, had cut through the middle of the Neo Shadows that had attempted to attack him, Two Become One easily slicing through the stomach of several Heartless at once. As soon as those screamed in pain, the blonde turned his body and landed a solid round house kick on the remaining swarming Heartless, causing the Neo Shadows to stumble back. Using their stumbling to his advantage, Roxas briefly shot forward, reversing his grip on his Keyblade, and swung it in a full circle as he twisted his body. At the last moment, right before the remaining Neo Shadows could sink their claws into his flesh, Roxas back flipped out of the swarm and landed right back where he started, with his back to Kairi and Xion. The Heartless, on the other hand, clawed at each other instead.

And then, there was Xion, who ducked down to avoid the first swipe of claws, only to cut down the legs of several Neo Shadows the moment she did, sending them to the ground. The ones she missed, she cut down as she shot back up with a well timed Thundara spell and a solid elbow to the face of one particularly stubborn Heartless. The moment the Neo Shadows fell, Xion quickly raised Oathkeeper and casted her strongest Firaga, causing the Heartless to catch on fire and scream in pure agony. But that wasn't enough, as some still pushed back onto their feet, leading to Xion blocking the claws for a second before she cut them down with one strong strike of Oathkeeper in the next moment, not giving them a moment to rest. And the ones that somehow survived all that? She used Aeroga to lift them in the air and smash them into the ground, killing them instantly.

As soon as the swarm of Neo Shadows dissipated, the three shared a look, unable to find the words they needed.

Thankfully (or not), that was the moment they heard a scream.

"_Ravi!_"

Without saying a single word, the three Guardians of Light took off running. A fairly good distance from where they had been fighting, they found a group of three surrounded by another swarm of Neo Shadows.

But this one was even larger than the one they had faced and Kairi could easily see the lines of exhaustion in the three struggling against them.

_"__Let me go, I have to get to her!" _One of the three, a dark skinned woman with scruffy black hair, screamed as she tried to wretch her arm out of the sole male's grasp.

"No way in hell am I letting you do that! Your Noise form will only make this worse for everyone!" The man snapped, his brown eyes narrowed as he barely dodged a claw and then had to yank the woman in his grasp away from another one, which resulted in him getting a graze to his wrist where he held her.

_"__But she's my-"_

_"__Dammit, Shanandee, just fight, goddammit!" _The other woman, a dark skinned blonde, snapped. She was separated from the other two, cutting through Neo Shadow after Neo Shadow with a thin, white scythe. Blood dripped from various wounds on her body, yet she continued to fight, her glare as sharp as her scythe.

But even Kairi could see that the three didn't have long left before they lost all their remaining energy to fight. Sharing a brief look with Roxas and Xion, she nodded once before raising Destiny's Embrace.

"Waterga!"

Instantly, the rain turned into razor sharp needle points and _slammed _into the Neo Shadows mercilessly. It wasn't enough to kill them, but it gave Kairi the time she needed to duck into the swarm surrounding the heavily injured woman and pull her out, while Xion pushed the man and the woman who had screamed towards her. Roxas, on the other hand, kept the eyes of all the Heartless on him until Kairi gave a single wave.

The three were safe.

It was all the sign he needed.

"Xion!" Roxas screamed.

"Got it!" Xion yelled right back, waving her hand high in the air. "Thundaga!" The thunder was perfect for the weather they were in, causing the electricity to run up the Neo Shadows entirely with a single strike.

But that wasn't the end.

Instead, each Neo Shadow was killed by a swift strike from Roxas, wielding both Two Become One _and _Oathkeeper as if they were mere extensions of his body. He fought as if he were dancing, easily avoiding every strike of claws and needing only the minimal backup from Xion's magic.

In the end, the final Neo Shadow fell to a small Thunder spell right before Two Become One cut through it.

Kairi almost gasped in awe. She always forgot just how in sync Roxas and Xion were when they fought side by side like this. They truly were the best partner for each other, with Lea rounding out their trio quite nicely.

The redhead tried to ignore the small pang in her heart as she began to wonder again if she belonged with these two. She quickly reminded herself that she had helped in both these battles. There was no reason for her to question her place with them. Instead, Kairi turned to the three she, Roxas, and Xion saved and focused her attention on healing them properly. Within minutes, the blood that had seemed to never end stopped flowing and the wounds each of the three bore vanished as if they had never been there to begin with.

As soon as all three were healed, the dark haired woman practically _launched _herself at the blonde woman.

"Ravi! You're okay, I was so worried!" The dark haired woman sobbed. The blonde woman, however, removed the other woman's arms and stood up, walking a short distance away.

"Stop that, Shandanee." Ravi said as she glared at the dark haired woman, Shanadanee it seemed. "There's no time for that."

"But…! But…!"

"I said enough!"

"Well, aren't you two getting along fantastically?" The sole man drawled, running a hand through his brown streaked with white hair. "Didn't even bother to thank the nice woman for healing us."

"Shut up, Eric!" The two women snapped, one loudly (Shandanee) and the other quietly (Ravi).

"Whatever." The man, Eric, shrugged before he turned to Kairi. "Thanks, anyway. Haven't seen you around before."

"No, but you've seen us." Xion grinned as she stepped over and waved at the three.

"Ah! Lady Xion!" Shandanee gasped, her eyes practically _sparkling _as she gazed up at the black haired Guardian of Light. "And Lord Roxas too!"

"Hey, come on…" Xion chuckled, awkwardly.

"That's still weird…" Roxas groaned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ignore them. So, you two traveling with her?" Eric asked, gesturing to Kairi with a nod of his head.

"Yes. We are on a...job with her." Xion confirmed.

"I'm Kairi." Kairi introduced herself, holding a hand out to Eric, which the man lazily shook.

"We're here to see Lauriam. Mind leading the way for us?" Roxas asked, holding a hand out to Kairi to help her up, which she gratefully accepted.

"I dunno...think the Master will agree to see 'em?" Eric asked, turning his head towards the standing women, still on the ground himself.

"Lady Xion and Lord Roxas? Of course he would!" Shandanee insisted, her fists clenched tightly.

"I suppose…" Ravi sighed, crossing her arms, subtly shifting away from the group. "As long as I'm not the one leading them."

"I'll go with you, Ravi!" Shandanee grinned, turning to the blonde woman instantly.

"Absolutely not." Ravi shot that down right away.

"So it's _my _job?" Eric groaned, laying on the ground and not appearing as if he planned to move anytime soon.

"They're certainly...unique." Kairi smiled slightly as she whispered to Roxas and Xion. Not that she could talk. She was pretty sure she, Sora and Riku were plenty 'unique' on their own, never mind her, Roxas and Xion.

"You don't even know the best part." Roxas smirked at her.

"Oh?" Kairi raised an eyebrow, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"They're all Nobodies, Reapers that serve under Lauriam. I think you knew him as Marluxia." Xion smiled as she explained.

Kairi wasn't sure if Roxas and Xion's snorted laughter was due to her now gaping mouth...or the antics of the three Reapers they were still standing around with. They were completely opposite of the stoic Organization XIII members that the redhead met when she was fifteen, after all.

* * *

**Location:** The Ocean Between - The Milky Galaxy

The search for Rickson and Sari continued through the Ocean Between as Riku flew the Highwind from world to world. After the third world that they had visited, Gia could no longer bear to be apart from her sister again so she dug under her shirt for her necklace with the "L" pendant. Even though it could not replace Lia, the pendant always helped remind Gia of the bond they shared, putting her at ease. That was not the case this time, though. Because Gia had higher expectations than usual for spending time with her sister, she felt cheated by the universe. The woman curled up in her seat and buried her face into her knees.

"Hey, Gia?"

"Mmm?" The silver-haired woman lifted her head to the side to find Jack looking at her with concern.

"We'll find Rickson and Sari soon."

Gia let out a sigh and did her best to smile. She nodded and said, "Yeah. I know."

"And then we'll be able to meet back up with Lia and the others."

Gia's smile grew a little more as she repeated herself, more gingerly this time.

The mood changed when Riku swiveled in his seat and went down to business. "Gia, the next world is one I've never been to. Can you come look at the map to see if you recognize it?"

Gia nodded and walked over to the central dashboard to take a look at the world. Her eyes furrowed from confusion as she said, "I don't think that's one I recognize either."

"How could that be?" Jack asked. "An artificial world? Or is it a large animal?"

Riku shook his head. "Doesn't seem to be either of those. New worlds are being born all the time. It keeps Ventus up at night sometimes trying to update the maps." He almost cracked a smile there.

"Does it seem like a big world?" Gia asked. She hoped the answer was no.

"Can't say just by looking at it."

Gia let out another sigh before returning to her seat.

* * *

**Location: **New Orleans - The Bayou

It had been hours since Sari had woken up in a swamp, covered in grime, and she had still yet to encounter anyone who could tell her where she was. Her silk battle dress was absolutely filthy and soaking from the combination of the swamp water and the rain that had fallen for a short period earlier. Sari had removed the veil that typically covered her mouth and placed it in her item pouch. She would discard it later, but she refused to do so now because that would mean littering. At the end of the day, her location and her outfit's condition were of little consequence to her. On a normal day, she would be absolutely livid about how dirty she was, but in this case, what she really cared about was that Rickson was still nowhere to be found.

As Sari stepped through the murky waters in the cold dead of night, she lit the tip of her Keyblade with a weak, yet stable glow to light her way, but it did little to keep her warm. Even with the light coming from her weapon, she was still surrounded in darkness because of the thick canopy of trees above her that blocked out the night sky. Was she in Deep Jungle? Maybe Scotland? She prayed she was not in the Pride Lands. That would mean having to use her magic to transform into an animal to not disturb the locals.

After several more minutes of walking, a faint beam of light broke through the foliage. Sari followed the light, hoping to reach some civilization, but all she found was a small pond in a clearing. At least she could see the stars in the sky, one of which stood out from all the others as the largest and brightest of them all. Seeing all the stars, reminded her of all the worlds in the universe, specifically her two homes. When she began thinking of the Land of Departure, her mind went back to Rickson.

Sari dug through her item pouch for a guitar pick, a gift from Rickson on their first date. She smiled down at it as it brought back wonderful memories of that day before placing it against her chest. Her dichromatic eyes floated back up to the sky as she whispered, "Just wait a little longer."

Sari put the pick away and began walking around the pond, but stopped when she heard a voice. She quickly stopped fueling the light spell and crouched down to remain hidden as she concentrated on the sound of...singing?

_"__Look how she lights up the sky.  
Ma Belle Evangeline"_

"Aha! That ain't no fi-" The second voice was quickly cut off, the first paying it no mind as it continued.

_"__So far above me yet I  
Know her heart belongs to only me  
__Je t'adore, Je t'aime Evangeline  
You're my queen of the night  
So still  
So bright  
That someone as beautiful as she  
Could love someone like me"_

Though she could hear the voice clearly, Sari could not find the origin. There was a firefly floating on the edge of the pond, but no one else was in sight. That is, until she saw an alligator nearby. Luckily for her, it had yet to notice her, so she quickly began scanning the area for others. Despite there being a dangerous animal nearby, the singing continued, which made Sari question whether it was actually a human singing.

There were even more voices, but they were much lower than the singer's so it was difficult for Sari to make out what they were saying. She knew that it was a third male voice and a female voice, though. Then there was the sound of a...trumpet? This was completely unexpected, but what took the cake for Sari was the fact that the trumpeter was the alligator!

Now that she knew she was on a world with sentient animals, Sari quickly transformed herself into a salamander, the first animal she could think of that would possibly belong to a wetland biome. Now, much smaller, she crawled through the shrubs to get a better view of what was happening. The pink and red-spotted salamander made her way on top of a rock and found a pair of frogs dancing on lily pads while the firefly, which she could now identify as the singer, provided a romantic ambiance by lighting the water lillies that floated around them and then beaming a spotlight with soft shades of pink and green onto them as they moved elegantly inside the water.

The sight brought yet another smile to Sari's face as she watched the pair leap into the air, arching over the brightest star in the sky. As the two slowly leaned in to kiss each other, Sari slipped down from the rock, quietly cursing her slimy form. This caught the attention of the other animals. The female frog took this opportunity to quickly back away from the male, looking down with a hint of disappointment. When the female frog regained her composure, she greeted Sari, "H-hello. You lost there?"

Sari picked herself up onto all fours and nodded. "Yeah, sorry about interrupting. I just couldn't help, but get carried away with that beautiful performance. The singing, the dancing, the trumpet playing, it was all wonderful!"

The other animals looked at one another with smiling faces, all feeling good about Sari's compliment.

The female frog was the first to speak as she responded, "Thank you, but Naveen, here, did all of the work. Truth, be told, that was my first time ever dancing."

Sari shook her head and said, "Nonsense. Dancing as gracefully and elegantly as that takes two. My name is Sari." She stood up on her hind legs and put a hand forward.

"I'm Tiana. This is Ray, Louis, and Nav-" As Tiana was about to introduce the male frog, he was whisked away by a slithering shadow.

"Ah! Tiana!"

"Naveen!"

_Heartless?! What could they want with that frog?_ Sari would have to think about it on the go because she needed to get a move on to keep up with the others. Unfortunately, her choice in transformation was a rather poor one in terms of mobility. She was left with little choice but to change back.

"Tiana!" Sari called. "Do humans exist here?"

"What?!"

Sari repeated, "Do _humans_ exist?!"

"Yes, but why is that important?!" Tiana got her answer when the salamander glowed brightly until she was a full grown human sprinting across the swamp. The frog stopped dead in her tracks at the surprising reveal and was almost crushed by Louis for doing so.

"You're not going anywhere!" Sari summoned Guiding Gladiolus and called out, "Holy!"

With Keyblade raised high above her head, Sari channeled her magic through her weapon, and called forth mighty pillars of light to vanquish the crawling shadows. Naveen fell into the swamp water, only to re-emerge from the shallows trapped inside a large Water Core's liquid shell. Several more, smaller Water Cores and some Creeper Plant appeared around it and began surrounding Sari and the others while the leader made its escape.

Tiana hopped beside Sari and said, "We can't let it take Naveen!"

"We won't." The redhead looked over at the fleeing Heartless, only to have her view of it intentionally obscured by one of its lackeys. She then turned her head to look at Tiana and the others, finding the largest of them, Louis, to be the most frightful while Ray the firefly was ready to throw down. Even with his and Tiana's help, Sari knew she would have to protect them all from harm.

Two of the Water Cores liquified themselves and rushed forward as a small torrent of water. Sari immediately threw up a Barrier around herself and the others to block the incoming attacks. As her glass-like dome cracked upon impact, Sari pointed her Keyblade upward and destroyed her own defense, sending out the hexagonal panels. The translucent shards struck the closest Heartless and even some of the ones that kept their distance.

The Creeper Plants shot glowing brown pellets at Sari, so she reacted with another Barrier, following it up with a Counter Blast again. This left the group vulnerable to a flying sphere of water from one of the Water Cores. The sphere exploded against Sari's Keyblade, knocking her down into the murky water. She let out a whimper as her head hit the mud, allowing water to slip into her lunges. She rolled onto her hands and knees, coughing uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Ray grew very angry and lit up brightly as he flew at a nearby Water Core. The physical light burned the dark creature, making it wail in pain. As the monster flinched, Ray moved onto the next one, keeping them distracted while evading the Creeper Plant's attacks.

Louis, on the other hand, was having a much harder time with the projectiles, getting hit in the gut, then the rear, and finally in the head before falling over unconscious. This created a small wave that washed Tiana away, leaving her right in front of a Creeper Plant. The monster took notice and went down for a bite. Fortunately, Tiana was able to leap away just in time to avoid its snapping jaw. She did not have much time to catch her breath, though as another Creeper Plant was going for a strike. The frog kept on her digits to avoid being plant food.

Sari drove her Keyblade's tip into the mud to support herself as she stood to fight, still coughing up the murky water slightly. She would have wiped her mouth with her sleeve if it wasn't already soaking wet. Noticing that Tiana was having trouble with Creeper Plants, Sari focused on them next. She pointed Guiding Gladiolus at them and fired off a Pearl spell .The ball of light purified the dark creature, allowing it to fade from existence.

Though another enemy was defeated, Sari had little time to rest since she was blindsided by one of the Water Cores that had turned itself into pure water. As it reformed, Sari shot another Pearl spell, vaporizing another monster. With only a handful left, Sari noticed a glowing light flickering inside one of the remaining Water Core's bubble. It was Ray! Another ball of light flew from Sari's Keyblade, but the Heartless evaded it by liquifying itself, flushing the firefly with it as it reformed. It then shot pellets of water at her, which she evaded with a slide, surrounding herself with a small vortex of water from beneath her feet. Her liquid shield also allowed her to obscure her next attack, which was a fast Strike Raid. Guiding Gladiolus cut through the whirling water and then through the Water Core like a saw blade. As the monster faded, Ray was left in freefall so Sari dove forward to catch him, holding him close to her without crushing him.

Tiana hopped onto Sari's shoulder and asked, "What are we gonna' do? We're barely holding on!"

Sari noticed that they were no longer surrounded by Heartless. Their enemies were still standing between them and Naveen, but she could handle this. Seeing that Ray's light affected them so much, the redhead charged light energy in the tip of her Keyblade before unleashing a brilliant volley at the remaining enemies, burning them with pure radiance.

Louis sat upright, rubbing his head as he asked, "Is that all of them?"

"There's still the one that took Naveen," Tiana pointed out.

Sari nodded. "Right. We better keep moving." She opened her palm and looked into it. "Are you doing okay, little guy?"

Ray shook himself and held a thumbs up. "I'm alright, darlin'! Thanks for the save back there."

Sari smiled at him and said, "You're very welcome."

As the firefly floated off of her hand, Sari ran forward with the others accompanying her. Soon, they caught up to the Major Water Core, who called forth more underlings.

"Oh no!" Louis said. "Not more of them! What are we gon' do?"

Sari took her fighting stance, standing up straight with her Keyblade held tightly to her side. "We fight." Just as she charged forward, bolts of light energy flew from behind the Heartless, obliterating each and every one of them. Naveen splashed in the water as he fell to the ground.

The others came to a stop as they noticed a large shadowy silhouette approaching through a thick mist. With a club raised high above its head, Tiana and the others all gasped, but Sari could sense nothing but light emanating from this being. It was quite curious, but she had little time to dwell on that thought because the mystic presence soon cut through the mist to reveal a little old woman.

She seemed to laugh to herself as she said, "Not bad for a 197-year-old blind lady." The woman held a club-like wand, its tip blazing with light magic, which she put out with a quick twirl and then a blow. Her joyful demeanor dissolved as she asked, "Now which one of you naughty children been messing with the Shadow Man?"

Louis was quick to point Naveen out, who himself, could not deny this.

* * *

**Location: **Land of Heroes- Island

Jack was many things and among those many things included the fact that he was someone who could, most of the time, easily break tension when it filled a room.

So, that was exactly what he tried to do.

"Man, it's really hot here. I thought islands were supposed to be more temperate than this. Or, at least, that's how Ryo always talked about his home. What do you say, Master?"

"I don't see a difference." Master Riku answered curtly, not looking too pleased with the conversation, if the look he sent Jack's way was any indication.

Wincing slightly (that was an all too familiar look when training went too far), Jack focused his attention on Gia instead.

"Say, Gia, you ever been to a world like this before? I've been all over the past year and nine months I've been training, but what about you?"

"It's fine...no big deal." Gia answered, her eyes looking far away, clouded with worry.

Jack felt his smile fall at the lack of response. From what he knew of Gia, and how the others spoke of her, she was always energetic and excitable. The same was true of Master Riku, who Jack knew as a calm and collected individual, steady as a rock in times of distress.

The fact that both weren't acting like themselves...made everything so much worse as an awkward and tense silence fell over them while they trudged further into the jungle.

The silence started to feel as if it was physically resting on Jack's shoulders, making it hard to breathe almost. It was choking, almost as suffocating as the guilt that wouldn't leave him alone. It was horrible, but he had only himself to blame.

If only he had paid more attention, had been more comfortable with so few people around, he wouldn't have been so caught off guard when Loz and Yazoo had attacked them, they wouldn't have needed to be saved by Cloud! They were members of the New Order, apprentices of Masters Riku and Aqua and had been training together for almost two years now, never mind how much longer both Sari and Rickson had been training than Jack himself. They should've been able to handle that! _Jack _should've been able to handle that, but instead...instead…!

"Hey, Jack? You doing okay? Not too hard walking through here, is it?" Gia's voice cut through Jack's spiraling thoughts as easily as a Keyblade, or a pickaxe. When he looked up, her eyes were clearer, though it was obvious she was still worried about her sister, back on the RLS Legacy.

"Huh? Y-yeah...I'm fine." Jack forced a smile. He couldn't let them know, Master Riku would be so disappointed. And Master Aqua...Jack refused to let his Master down, he just couldn't. Not anymore than he already did.

"Hmm...I dunno…" Gia hummed as she looked at him more closely. "I mean, it _is _hard to move out here. Even I'm having trouble."

"That's cause you're not much taller than me." Jack allowed a more genuine smile to grow on his lips.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Gia exploded, glaring at Jack, causing some birds to fly off, calling out as they did so. But it was completely true. Gia only had four inches on Jack and every inch may count, but that wasn't _that _much. Jack startled to giggle a bit. He forgot how much he enjoyed messing with Gia, she got angry over the slightest thing.

"Keep quiet, you two. We don't know what could be here." Master Riku warned, causing both apprentices to fall silent, though Jack could see Gia pouting in the corner of his eye. Master Riku held an arm out to stop their advance then, looking around cautiously. "There's something here…"

Jack bit his tongue so he remained silent, ignoring the uncomfortable shivers climbing his spine as he did so. That was when he heard the faint rustling of the branches.

"MOVE!" Master Riku suddenly shouted and Jack instinctively rolled to the side.

As soon as he did, the ground shook fiercely, as if an earthquake had struck. Looking up, Jack gasped as he came eye to eye with a giant robot that sorta reminded him of a spider. It was tall, taller than the trees above them, and was made of dark metal (some form of steel, Jack thought. It looked sturdy, that was for sure), with what looked like a camera on top, its red light trained on the three Keyblade wielders.

This…? This was not good. Not good at all.

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - Mama Odie's House

When they reached Mama Odie's house, Sari had been shocked to discover that the old woman lived in an amazing tree, she was pretty sure it was a cypress, with a large boat smashed between its top, though she could not understand how such a thing was even possible.

Still, despite the fact that she lived in a shipwreck in a tree, the old woman's residence was quite beautiful, filled with bottles that caught the light where it came through the wrecks in the boat and all sorts of supplies Mama Odie must require for her voodoo magic. It was all simply fascinating, in Sari's opinion.

Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by Tiana, as the female frog hopped behind Mama Odie.

"We're so glad we found you, Mama Odie. Ray and Loius here have been telling us all about you. We've been traveling quite a long way, and you can't imagine what we've been through. And we-" Tiana cut herself off suddenly and when Sari turned back in surprise, she found that the female frog had stopped when she noticed a jar with a pair of eyeballs and teeth floating within, before she continued speaking, stuttering, "-a-and we heard that you-"

"Juju!" Mama Odie called out, cutting off Tiana. A second later, a slender, lime green snake with dark yellow spots on its back and light pink eyes with red slit pupils dropped down from the ceiling and hissed, causing Mama Odie to laugh as she turned towards the snake. "Come on over here, you bad boy!" The snake, Juju, proceeded to nuzzle against the old woman's face. Sari practically cooed at the sight, he was so cute! Mama Odie then cooed, "Give a little sugar now." The old woman suddenly began to kiss her pet snake on the mouth. In the corner of Sari's eye, she could see the uncomfortable looks on Tiana and Naveen's faces, while Louis pretended to gag at the sight. Sari simply giggled, finding their reactions amusing. "Ya'll just loves your Mama, don't cha?" The old woman smiled before she suddenly stretched Juju out and began to use him as a walking stick to navigate her home, turning back slightly to call back, "Good to see you, Ray!" Juju's head accidentally hit a bell, which Sari _did _wince at, sympathy running down her spine. "How's your grandmama?"

"Oh, she's fine." Ray laughed. "Got in a little trouble for flashing the neighbors again."

"Ooooh! I like that girl's spunk." Mama Odie grinned, laughing a bit as she sat down in a chair.

"Mama Odie." Tiana spoke up as she and Naveen hopped onto the old woman's armrest. "We don't want to take up too much of your time-"

Suddenly, a hand was shoved into the frogs' faces, containing a few pieces of old, hairy candy and, surprisingly, a small key, cutting the female frog off.

"Ya'll want some candy?" Mama Odie offered.

"Uhhhhh, not really." Naveen shook his head, grimacing in slight disgust.

"No thank you." Tiana declined, a bit more polite than her fellow human-turned-frog.

"Why not?" Sari smiled kindly, taking a piece of candy and casually tossing it over her shoulder, catching it behind her back with the same hand in order to create the illusion that she ate it. No need to hurt such a sweet old woman's feelings.

"Weeeell now that's too bad for you froggies." Mama Odie said, wiping a piece of candy on her robe to clean it. "It's a special candy. It would've turned ya'll human." As the two frogs then began to plead for it, the old woman happily tossed it into her mouth. At their looks of disappointment, she began to laugh uproariously. "I'm just messin' with ya'll!"

"How on Earth did you know that we wanted to turn ba-" Tiana started to ask, only to cut herself off as Mama Odie began to snore, loudly.

"Oh, dear...she actually fell asleep. I thought only my grandma did that in winter." Sari chuckled, amused.

"Umm, Mama Odie?" Naveen nervously called, gingerly poking the voodoo woman's sunglasses. Suddenly, Mama Odie shot up, startling Naveen and causing him to fall back as she stood up and yelled, "Juju!" The snake in question, who was napping just like his owner, sprung up from his coiled position on the floor, watching as Mama Odie made her way towards a boiling...bathtub. "Why didn't you tell me my gumbo was burning?!"

"You sure this is the right blind voodoo lady who lives in a boat in a tree in a bayou?" Louis asked Ray quietly, suddenly looking unsure.

"Pretty sure." Ray shrugged, looking much less worried than Louis did. Sari turned her attention back towards the old woman, making her way towards the bathtub to peek inside and watch the voodoo woman cook.

"Gotta do everything around here." Mama Odie whined as the two frogs made their way over to the tub and hopped up onto the edge of it.

"Mama Odie, if you-" Tiana started again.

"Taste it!" Mama Odie demanded, suddenly shoving a finger in Tiana's mouth, cutting her off. "Well?" The female frog tasted the gumbo that had been shoved in her mouth for a moment before she spoke.

"Hit it hard with a couple of shots of Tabasco and it's the bee's knees." The female frog declared.

"Juju!" Mama Odie called out and the snake suddenly appeared with a bottle of the sauce Tiana spoke of, placing two drops in the tub before he vanished again. For a moment, Mama Odie looked lost before she tried her gumbo. Suddenly, the woman began to jump around excitedly, crying, "Yee-he-hee! That's got some _zang_ to it!" As the old woman laughed happily, and Tiana slapped her forehead, now visibly frustrated, Sari curiously took a small sip of the gumbo herself. Mama Odie was right, it was truly _amazing_ and she wished she could bring some home with her. Perhaps Mama Odie would let her take some back? "That's just what it needed! Now! Ya'll figure out what you need?" At the voodoo woman's voice, Sari turned back to see her finally focusing on the two humans-turned-frogs.

"It's just like you said, Mama Odie. We need to be human." Tiana explained, gesturing to herself and Naveen. "Wait!" Something had occurred to Tiana. She turned to Sari and asked, "How did you turn back to human?"

"My magic can help me change forms when necessary, but it's easier to fight the Heartless, those monsters in the swamp, if I'm human. Unfortunately, I can't help you get what you need, not with my magic." Sari admitted.

"Ha!" Mama Odie laughed, startling Tiana and almost causing her to fall into the bathtub full of gumbo. Thankfully, Naveen caught her before she fell in. "Ya'll ain't got the sense you was born with! Ya'll want to be human, but ya'll blind to what you _need_."

"What we want, what we need, it's all the same thing, yes?" Naveen smiled, only for Mama Odie to hit him on the top of his head with the wooden spoon handle, causing Sari to snort. "Ow!"

"It's the same thing? No!" Mama Odie laughed, wagging her finger like a chiding grandmother. "You listen to your mama now!" The old woman stepped back, grabbed Juju and began to sing.

_"__Don't matter what you look like_

_Don't matter what you wear_

_How many rings you got on your finger_

_We don't care"_

_"__(No we don't care)" _A choir of roseate spoonbills suddenly sang, flying in from the wrecked roof, causing Sari to gasp in the beginnings of awe, a smile growing on her face.

_"__Don't matter where you come from_

_Don't even matter what you are_

_A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat_

_Had em' all in here" _Mama Odie sang, summoning her wand from midair and using it to turn Juju into the many animals she spoke of before turning the poor snake back to normal. Sari felt a bit sad for the exhausted looking snake.

_"__(We had em' all in here)" _The choir of roseate spoonbills sang as they began to fly and circle Mama Odie.

_"__And they all knew what they wanted_

_What they wanted me to do_

_I told them what they needed_

_Just like I be telling you_

_You gotta dig a little deeper_

_Find out who you are_

_You gotta dig a little deeper_

_It really ain't that far_

_When you found out who you are_

_You find out what you need_

_Blue skies and sunshine_

_Guaranteed_

_You gotta dig" _As Mama Odie sang, she dug through an open chest, throwing a tambourine at both Ray and Louis before also throwing an oyster that Juju caught. Sari smiled in condolence to the poor snake as it handed off the oyster to open it before the two frogs, revealing the pearl within. Suddenly, Louis grabbed Sari's free hand and began to spin her, causing the redheaded Keyblade wielder to laugh as she joined the alligator in dancing.

_"__(Dig)"_

_"__You gotta dig"_

_"__(Dig)"_ As the choir of roseate spoonbills finished their part, Mama Odie approached Naveen, who was dancing on the floor now, using Juju as a step stool to lean over him using a too tall podium.

_"__Prince Froggy is a rich little boy_

_You wanna be rich again?_

_That ain't gonna make you happy now_

_Did it make you happy then? No!" _Suddenly, the old woman began to bury Naveen in gold coins, with only Juju's hold on her dress keeping her from falling on him.

_"__Money ain't got no soul_

_Money ain't got no heart_

_All you need is some self-control_

_Make yourself a brand new start" _Suddenly, Mama Odie dug Naveen out of the pile of gold and had Juju launch the two of them across the boat, the snake catching them as they landed, only for Mama Odie to set Naveen down on a piece of blue luggage and pointing out Tiana dancing with Ray, causing the male frog to drop the single coin he still held.

Sari smiled before Louis suddenly helped her backflip into the air, with one of the roseate spoonbills catching her in midair to slow her descent before she landed on her feet and she spun back towards her alligator partner.

_"__You gotta dig a little deeper_

_Don't have far to go_

_You gotta dig a little deeper_

_Tell the people Mama told you so_

_Can't tell you what you'll find_

_Maybe love will grant you peace of mind_

_Dig a little deeper and you'll know" _With one last grin towards Naveen, Mama Odie approached Tiana.

_"__Miss Froggy?"_

_"__Ma'am." _The female frog turned to the voodoo woman in acknowledgement.

_"__Might I have a word?" _Mama Odie requested.

_"__Yes, ma'am." _Tiana agreed, allowing Mama Odie to pick her up and carry her towards the bathtub full of gumbo.

_"__You's a hard one, that's what I heard_

_Your daddy was a lovin' man_

_Family through and through_

_You your daddy's daughter_

_What he had in him you got in you_

_You gotta dig a little deeper_

_For you it's gonna be tough_

_You gotta dig a little deeper_

_You ain't dug far enough" _As Mama Odie sang, she carried Tiana to what looked like it used to be a crow's nest, which Juju spun a wheel in order to raise up to the top of the tree. With a grin, Sari turned to Louis, who happily lifted her up so she could follow, finding herself in the top part of the tree, with all sorts of bottles serving as light fixtures.

_"__Dig down deep inside yourself_

_You'll found out what you need_

_Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed_

_Open up the windows_

_Let in the light, children" _The roseate spoonbills did exactly, pulling aside leaves to let the sun catch the bottles, making the area shine with all sorts of colors.

_"__(Blue skies and sunshine)_

_(Blue skies and sunshine)"_

_"__Blue skies and sunshine" _Tiana belted out as she was placed on top of Mama Odie's hat. Naveen, at Sari's feet, looked entirely lovestruck and the Keyblade wielder couldn't help, but laugh. The two of them were so cute!

_"__Guaranteed" _Mama Odie grinned proudly.

_"__(Ahhh...)" _The roseate spoonbills finished.

Sari let out a laugh, applauding all the performers with Ray floating at her side doing the same. Unfortunately, all the smiles fell just seconds later...when Tiana apparently did _not _understand the purpose for the song.

So, with a disappointed sigh, Mama Odie returned them all to her boat and went to her gumbo pot, explaining that in order to turn back into humans, Naveen needed a princess to kiss him. Apparently, a parade princess for the night, a girl named Lotte who also happened to be Tiana's friend, qualified for the job.

And apparently, Louis had the perfect idea on how to get all of them where they needed to be.

* * *

**Wolfie: And there we are! You wouldn't believe it, but originally this chapter included ALL of the New Orleans segments, which if we had included them, it would've probably been well over 10,000 words by the end. But yes, that means all of Sari's adventures are written out and ready to go, along with all sorts of new stuff that will be added.**

**Speaking of, I am proud to introduce our three Reapers, Ravi, Shandanee and Eric! We are so very glad to include them and thank their creators for giving them to us! We are still accepting OCs, if anyone else would like to submit a Reaper or a Ninja (we have 1 Ninja right now, you'll meet them next chapter…I think).**

**Oh yeah, for Roxas and Xion's Keyblades: Legacy and I decided a while ago that they would not use Oblivion, Oathkeeper and Kingdom Key because they aren't ****_their _****Keyblades, you know? Like how Sora has the Kingdom Key, Riku has Brave Heart, Ven has Wayward Wind, etc. So we gave them Two Become One (a symbol of Roxas and Sora's bond, as well as a Roxas exclusive designed Keyblade, fitting him well) and Oathkeeper (as Xion kept her oath and is made up of Sora's memories of Kairi originally). And yes, both of them can duel wield with the others' Keyblade, as long as the other is not using it. Roxas is the main one who does this (being more used to duel wielding), but Xion will occasionally do so as well.**

**Let's see…I think that's it then? I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave us a review to let us know what you think! Be safe and may your heart be your guiding key!**

**Reapers: (3/?)**

**Ninjas: (1/4)**


	9. Chapter 9: I Won't Fall

**Wolfie: Hello again everyone! We've got a lot of news for you with this chapter! First, up, Legacy!**

**Legacy's A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the action from last chapter because we're cranking it up to 100 in this chapter. I'm extremely excited to see what you guys think about Sari's fights because we've had some of those sections done for about two months. The final two fighting segments were some of the earliest parts that we wrote, so I'm so happy that you guys will finally get to see it. I think Wolfie and I can agree that Sari has been a joy to write so thanks again to Antex for submission and for keeping up with this story. We appreciate you support!**

**I also wanted to point out something that some of you guys might have already noticed. The title of this story was changed to include the subtitle "Book 1: Scattered Light," so you know what that means, the greater story we've been planning for a few years now will be segmented into multiple books. We're not sure how many but we're planning for at least 4. That being said, we have good news! We're actually almost done with Book 1, so that's another thing I'm super excited for because of how it will end. Without spoiling too much, all I'll say is that you'll see what's going on with Sora.**

**Wolfie: And that's all the info you're getting on that! Also~! This chapter was actually done a while ago, despite its monstrous size, but we held back so we could set up a once a month updating schedule! So here's your chapter this month! I'm super excited cause stuff we planned back in the very first chapter is gonna start coming to light!**

**Anyways, thanks to Antex-the Legendary Zoroark (Thanks so much for such a nice long review, we love those!) for reviewing, all 9 followers, 7 favorites and 776 readers!**

**Now enjoy and we'll see you down below!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: I Won't Fall**

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - River Boat

After leaving Mama Odie's house, Sari and the others managed to catch a steamboat drifting along the bayou river. According to Louis, it would take them to New Orleans Square, where Naveen said he met the Shadow Man, so Sari was all in. Though the smaller animals would have no trouble hiding from human eyes, Louis was a different story. Luckily for him, a group of musicians on board were wearing animal costumes and assumed that he was too. They even asked him to join them during their set, which brought a joyful, star stricken gasp out from the musical gator.

Being on the boat and watching Louis fulfill his dream of "playing with the big boys" as he described, was a wonderful sight, but Sari could not shake worry from her mind. She worried for Rickson's safety, and hoped that he was indeed in town. Otherwise, she'd have to start from square one.

The boat ride had taken most of the day, but it was still faster than walking or swimming all the way back to New Orleans Square. As the steamboat neared the town in the evening, Tiana and Naveen had disappeared, which worried Sari after what had happened last night with the Heartless trying to take the frog prince. The salamander-in-disguise looked around and asked, "Um...Ray? Did you see where Tiana and Naveen went?"

"Aw, the Cap and Sher just went to dinner."

Sari was so confused. "Ray, I'm talking about the two frogs that were with us earlier. Not the captain of the boat."

Ray began chuckling as he waved, Sari's concern away and said, "Me too, Marguerite!"

"Marga-what?" Sari asked.

She was ignored, though, as Ray continued, "They went off to spend some time alooone."

Sari's eyes widened. "What?! Why?! What about the Heartless?!"

"No need to worry about them. If those shadow thingies come back, Cap will just holler. Like so…" Ray cupped his mouth with both hands and let out a loud yell, that left Sari to cover her ears.

"O-okay, I get it. It's just, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them."

"Me neither. Though I thought I almost had to throw down with Cap," he said chuckling.

"You and Naveen? How come?"

"Aw, just a misunderstandin'. See, I thought he was trying to make a move on my woman, so understandably I had to go toe-to-toe with 'im."

Sari started looking around, but she could not find another firefly nearby. "Has there been another firefly traveling with us?"

Again, Ray laughed as he shook his head. "Was you not paying attention to my song?" He pointed upwards to the brightest star in the sky and said, "That's my darling, Evangeline." The firefly said the name with a loving sigh.

Sari could have sworn she was being pranked. "Uh, Ray…?"

Before the Keyblade wielder could say anything else, Ray asked, "Do you got anyone in your life like Evangaline?" Sari paused, a blush burning brightly on her smooth face. "Aw, you do, don't 'cha?!" Ray said excitedly. "Why don't you tell me 'bout 'im?"

Sari smiled and said, "He's the reason why I need to find this Shadow Man you all seem to be looking for."

"You think he's got yo man?"

"I hope he doesn't...but yes, I think he does.."

"Well then, I'm gonna help you get 'im back!"

Ray's energy was as brilliant as the light he let off in the evening's darkness, making it difficult for Sari not to smile. "You know, Evangeline is lucky to have a guy like you, Ray." Now Ray was the one blushing brightly, his tail light glowing pink to show it.

Once Ray returned to his normal color, he asked Sari, "Say, how come you turned back to a critter like us?"

Sari sighed, "I know I could be a human here, but it's just...I'd feel embarrassed with the condition my outfit is in."

"You can't use your hocus pocus to get yourself a fancy set of clothes?"

"I'm afraid not. My magic doesn't work that way."

"Now that don't make no lick of sense!"

The salamander let out another sigh, "You're telling me."

* * *

**Location:** Midnight City - Rose Castle

Kairi wasn't really surprised that the walk back to the former Castle That Never Was was filled with all sorts of conversation. Shandanee, especially, was quite energetic, asking Roxas and Xion to tell her about the adventures they had been on, with Ravi occasionally butting in to attempt to stop her sister from bothering the bounty hunters so much. Eric also cut in once in a while to answer one of Xion's miscellaneous questions about the city in general, as well as about Lauriam, Elrena and their family.

Roxas, however, remained silent as he walked at Kairi's side and...it was nice, just being able to observe how these Reapers interacted with the bounty hunters, how each of them seemed to have a heart of their own, despite losing theirs however long ago. And if Kairi looked closely, she could see a hint of pride in Roxas' eyes as he observed the three Reapers himself. She wanted to ask him if he saw himself, Xion, and Axel as they developed their own hearts back when they were all part of Organization XIII. Their existence had been denied by DiZ, Ansem the Wise, after all, and yet now that same existence was being fostered for those who could not regain their hearts.

But...she couldn't bring herself to break the silence, and so she just brushed her arm against his and smiled. As Roxas' eyes met hers, it seemed as if he understood...and he returned her smile with sparkling icy blue eyes.

The next moment, however, they passed into the castle and Kairi's eyes widened as her focus shifted to something else.

Ravi, Shandanee, and Eric now had black skeletal wings adorning their backs and Kairi just knew she was gaping again.

Roxas easily followed her line of sight and chuckled.

"Cool, huh? It's part of being a Reaper and having a heart. We got a hold of Sora's friend, Neku, and he wrestled the answer out of Joshua. Apparently, it's common enough in their homeworld." The blonde explained.

"I see. They're amazing." Kairi smiled, and they really were. Despite being black and demonic looking, they were as beautiful as any pair of angel wings could be, if you asked Kairi.

"I'm glad you think so, Lady Kairi!" Shandanee smiled as she turned towards the redhead, startling her. "Ravi doesn't care much about hers, but I try to keep mine nice and pretty!"

"There's no point to it." Ravi scoffed.

"No, no, not having this argument again." Eric shook his head. "Look, we're here. Focus on the girls."

"Huh?" Kairi asked, turning to look around the three Reapers only to see a man with ash grey hair standing up from where he was bent down talking to two girls.

The oldest of the girls had light red hair, so light it almost had an orange tint to it, and teal eyes while the youngest of the girls had undeniably pale orange hair and bright green eyes that lit up as she laid her gaze on everyone standing before her.

"Shana!" The little girl, no older than ten if Kairi had to say, squealed as she pushed herself up and ran over to wrap her arms around the female Reaper's waist.

"Little Lady Zia! Are you having fun with Lady Strelitizia and Hibiki?" Shandanee laughed as she bent down and swung the girl up into the air before returning her to the ground, exaggeratedly rubbing her back as she did so. "Ooh! You're getting too heavy for this old lady, Little Lady Zia!"

"I'm having loads of fun! Aunt Strelitzia and Hibiki are always fun!" The little girl, Zia, grinned brightly as she held her hands behind her back. "And Shana isn't old!"

"That's right, Zia, we aren't old. Remember that." Eric smirked as he pet the top of her head before looking at the ash gray-haired man behind the girl. "Why you all alone, Hibiki?"

"We're getting pretty spread out. I was the only one free to guard the girls." Hibiki admitted almost sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. Considering he was dressed casually, Kairi was pretty sure today was his day off. She also noticed that he did not have wings like the others.

"And we appreciate it, Hibiki." The older girl, Strelitzia, smiled gratefully at the man as she stood up. Her eyes were the first to land on Roxas, Xion and Kairi. "Oh! Roxas and Xion, Big Brother didn't tell me you were coming today. And with a guest, too."

"It was kind of a spontaneous thing. Sorry about dropping in." Xion apologized, bowing her head as she did so.

"There's no need. Right, Hibiki?" Strelitzia asked, turning to the man for guidance.

"Yeah, I think the king and queen will be happy to see you." Hibiki admitted as he stepped closer and held a hand out to Kairi. "I'm Hibiki, a Ninja under Queen Elrena. It's nice to meet you."

"You too. My name is Kairi, I'm-" Kairi began to smile.

"Daddy told me about you! You're a real princess!" Zia gasped, staring up at Kairi with sparkling eyes.

Kairi laughed, covering her mouth slightly with a gently closed fist. "Yeah, you can say that. Though I don't live in a castle like you. So I think you're more of a princess than I am." Kairi grinned as she bent down, her hands resting on her knees as she met the girl's eyes, briefly booping her on the nose as she said 'you're'. Zia giggled happily at that.

"That's right, she's our little princess, one of our two lights on this dark world." Hibiki grinned as he scooped Zia up onto his shoulders, causing the little girl to shriek joyfully. Chuckling at the man's antics, Strelitzia turned to Kairi and held out a hand.

"I'm Strelitzia, Lauriam's younger sister. It's nice to meet you, Kairi." She smiled.

"You too. I didn't know Lauriam had a younger sister." Kairi commented and mentally added and with such a large age difference.

Strelitzia couldn't have been older than eighteen, twenty if Kairi was willing to push it, while Lauriam was, undoubtedly, in his 30s. A ten year age difference wasn't totally unheard of, but it was not a usual one.

"Yep! Big Brother and I are really close." Strelitzia smiled.

"I'm glad." Xion smiled. "I'll never forget the day Lauriam introduced you to us, he looked so proud of you." The black haired bounty hunter's words caused the young woman to blush.

"Speaking of, where are His Royal Rosyness and Her Royal Sparkyness? We need their help." Roxas said then, his hands behind his head.

A male responded, "How fortunate, we require your assistance as well."

Turning, the Reapers and Hibiki instantly straightened to attention while Zia ran towards the two figures who entered the room, Strelitiza following right behind her.

"Why am I not surprised?" Roxas groaned as he turned towards Lauriam and Elrena. "Let me guess: you want to put us on Heartless management duty again?"

The king and queen of Midnight City were dressed for the part as Lauriam wore a white shirt, black vest, gray pants, and pink cape while Elrena donned a sky blue dress with a matching shawl.

"Gee, how'd you ever guess?" Elrena drawled sarcastically, sounding reminiscent of Larxene as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, we are interested in quid pro quo, so…" Xion trailed off, sharing a look with Kairi. At the redhead's hesitant nod of assent, the black haired bounty hunter turned to her former Organization comrades. "What do you need us to do?"

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - New Orleans Square

As the river boat docked, Louis exited with the other musicians, merging with the parade as the floats passed through the main street. Tiana reunited with Sari and Ray on the wooden dock, asking if they had seen Naveen, which neither of them had. Sari was confused by Tiana's question but Ray, on the other hand, was excited.

"Look at you!" He said as he rubbed his hands together with anticipation. "Where the ring at?"

Both Sari and Tiana were confused. Ray made no mention of a ring to Sari while they were alone so she stayed quiet.

"What are you talking about?" Tiana asked.

Ray's eyes widened when he realized that Tiana did not know what he knew. "Well if Captain said nothing, I ain't gon' say nothing cause 'ol Ray sealed up tight as a drum. You ain't getting nothin' out of me. No!"

The girls shared a quizzical look before Tiana raised an eyebrow at their shiny friend. "Ray…"

"Okay, Cap not gon' marry Charlotte. He gon' marry you! Soon as he get himself kissed, and ya'll both turn human, he gon' find a job, get you that restaurant-" Ray quickly covered his own mouth, lowering his hands only to ask, "I said too much, didn't I?"

Tiana and Sari looked at each other with large smiles and the two amphibians hugged each other, squealing with glee. The frog turned back to Ray, taking hold of him in an embrace as she said, "You said just enough!" She then looked up at the brilliant star above them and quietly sighed, "Thank you, Evangeline."

The three then make their way through the crowd, evading the omnipresent human foot that appeared around every corner.

"He was trying to propose!" Tiana said in her exhilaration as she began to make sense of the time she was alone with Naveen. "That's what all that fumblin' was about! And here I thought all he wanted was to marry a rich girl."

Lagging behind, Ray shouted, "Woah! Woah! Cher! What are we lookin' for again?!"

Tiana responded, "You just keep your eyes out for the biggest, gaudiest float with a Mardi Gras princess about to kiss herself a…" The young woman cut herself off with a gasp as she absentmindedly finished her statement, "a frog."

Atop a wedding cake-shaped float stood Charlotte, her father, a reverend, and, a handsome man. Sari looked around to see what had Tiana in such a state of disbelief but failed to find it. "Tiana? What's wrong?" As soon as Sari asked the question, the answer came to her. She mentally slapped herself for not having realized it sooner. That man...was Naveen.

By the looks of it, Naveen and Charlotte were already getting married as the reverend had begun the ceremony.

Ray was also in disbelief, but he was trying to make sense of their situation. "Oh no, this can't be right, darlin'. And how you can still be a frog? Mama Odie, she..." He stopped when he realized Tiana was gone.

"Where did she go?" Sari asked.

"I don't know, but we got to find Cher. This just ain't right!"

* * *

**Location:** Land of Heroes - Island

The island's thicket gave Gia, Jack, and Riku the cover they needed while they tried to think of a way to destroy the colossal machine that chased them around the jungle. The trees and boulders did little to impede it in its pursuit of the Keyblade wielders, though. Its long spider-like arms knocked trees down and its iron claws could crush through rock with ease. The trio was never safe for longer than a few seconds so they had to stay on the move.

"Master!" Gia called. "I think I can take care of this thing if you and Jack keep it distracted long enough!"

Riku nodded. "Jack, you're with me. Let's keep its attention on us."

"Yes sir!"

Jack and Riku made a sharp left to lead the machine away, but for some reason, it continued following the summoner instead of taking the opportunity to eliminate two possible threats at once.

"Why would it go after her," Jack asked.

That's when it hit Riku. It must have been able to understand what they said through some voice capture function and deemed Gia the immediate threat. "It knows Gia is planning something. Come on, we need to get its attention back on us."

Riku sprinted forward in pursuit of the silver-haired apprentice and the machine with Jack lagging behind, moving as quick as his small legs could carry him. The silver-haired master focused his aim at a tree branch and flew through the air with his Flow Motion ability, swinging rapidly before moving to the next branch. This allowed him to close the gap between himself and his target within a matter of seconds. His Keyblade, Braveheart, glowed bright violet and as he swung it, a volley of dark wisps flew at the machine.

The projectiles connected with its hard metallic shell, but they didn't make a single scratch. Riku took note that one of his dark spheres landed near the head, at which point the machine retracted it to protect itself. "That must be a weak-point," Riku reasoned to himself. This was only supported by the fact that the robot seemed to have deemed Riku the new threat as it turned its head 180 degrees and thrusted its leg forward. Riku converted himself into a sphere of darkness several meters to the side before rematerializing into his normal form.

Just as the robot had tracked Riku's new position, another volley of projectiles flew towards it, this time a barrage of fireballs. It retracted its head preemptively, no doubt to protect its weak point. Riku was sure of it now. When the machine no longer felt threatened, its head poked out and rotated until it found Jack standing with his Keyblade, Tempered Desire, still glowing with a faint aura of fire. The dwarf's eyes widened as a boulder was chucked towards him, narrowly avoiding being crushed with a last-minute roll.

Riku shot another Dark Divide attack, redirecting the enemy's attention to himself. As a metal claw thrusted at Riku like a spear, he used his Dark Roll ability, leaving a small trail of black particle effects behind him. This time, however, the robot followed up with a second strike just as Riku rematerialized. In the nick of time, he threw up a Barrier around himself, partly translucent with darkness flowing inside of it.

"Master Riku!" Jack called.

"Don't worry about me! Keep attacking it!"

Jack nodded as he took his stance against the robot. His right leg was placed far back behind his left while his Keyblade was pointed downward behind him. The dwarf closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. The air around him began to glow with warm colors of red and orange in a fiery aura. "Leave it up to me, Mast-"

Just as Jack's eyes opened, a sort of lightning bolt with a face flew between the trees and slammed into the machine. Sparks of electricity danced all around it and suddenly, the red light on its head went dark as it toppled over towards Riku, its arm pushing the barrier with him inside away. Dust kicked up all around the large spherical droid. When it cleared, the thunderbolt from earlier resurfaced as a small furry creature and stood atop his vanquished foe, laughing to himself.

"Sparky, you did it!" Gia cheered as she rushed over to him. The small creature slid down one of the robot's arms and into Gia's as she tossed him into the air happily.

As Jack's blazing aura disappeared around him, he was left with nothing but questions. "W-what just happened?"

"Oh! This is one of my summons, Sparky. He comes in handy pretty often, especially around anything that uses or runs on electricity since he's basically a glutton for that stuff." Sparky laughed mischievously in response. "Thanks for the help, little guy. You're always a lifesaver." The creature responded in an indistinguishable language and disappeared in a flash of light. "I'm still not sure what that means. It either means, 'Think nothing of it' or 'I don't like doing this.' All things considered, I'm leaning towards the first one."

"Well your summon, definitely came useful there. Thank you both, Gia," Riku said with a smile of pride. Gia beamed up at him with a cheerful smile. He then looked between her and Jack and said, "Good work, to you as well, Jack. Both of you, be on guard, though. There could be more of those machines around."

"What are we going to do now, Master?" Jack asked.

"We need to find the person in control of that thing. They might know where Sari and Rickson are."

"What makes you so sure?" Gia followed up.

Riku shook his head as he answered, "I'm not sure about it. I'm just saying that they either sent this machine to keep us from getting to our allies or they're just trying to get rid of us since we are trespassing. At the very least, I want to clear up any confusion. Come on, you two."

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - Cemetery

Sari and Ray had left the parade in search of Tiana, following the mucus that she left behind on the ground, and it led them to a cemetery. They found the frog by a mausoleum with her head hanging low as she sniffled, undoubtedly crying out of disappointment and heartbreak.

Ray floated closer to Tiana, approaching slowly as he said, "I know what we seen with our eyes, but if we just go back that way, we're gon' find out your fairytale come true."

Without turning, Tiana said, "Just because you wish for something doesn't make it true."

Sari winced at the claim.

Ray pressed on, trying to bring the frog's spirit back up. "It's like my Evangeline always say to me-"

Tiana quickly cut him off and said, "Evangeline is nothing but a star, Ray! A big ball of hot air a million miles from here! Open your eyes now, before you get hurt."

Sari was left in awe, her mouth hanging because of what Tiana had just told Ray. The salamander's head went back and forth, distressed by how quickly the situation had escalated. "Ray...T-Tiana…"

The frog leapt away from Sari and Ray, leaving them alone. Sari looked up at Ray. She didn't know what to say to him.

Tears welled up in the firefly's eyes as he watched Tiana leave. Without stopping to look at Sari, he focused his attention on his love. "She just speakin' out of broken heart. That's all that is." He wiped his tears from his face. "Come on, Evangeline." As he finally turned to the salamander, Ray looked at her with a determined look in his eye and said, "We gon' show Cher the truth!" Sari smiled at him and the two made their way back to the festival.

* * *

**Location:** Land of Departure - Maia's Room

Maia groaned to herself as she fell back against her bed. She was so boooooooored!

While it was true it wasn't unusual for large teams to leave on missions, leaving the Land of Departure quieter than it usually was, that didn't mean Maia wasn't sad that absolutely everyone left! Even Mahir! Her best partner-in-crime in the whole Land! No! The whole World!

And why did she have to stay behind while absolutely everyone left for a job? Where was the sense in that?! I mean, sure, outside of Ryo and Alexina, she was the newest...but five months didn't make a difference between her level and Marta's! She could've helped too!

With another agonized groan, Maia turned her body as slowly as a snail, not in the mood to move as a sign of protest. It wasn't like her master was here anyway...he took Mahir and flew off the first chance he got, not even offering to take her too. It's not that she didn't appreciate Master Aqua's training, it just was...boring. Especially since she had a solid grasp on magic theory already.

Maia preferred learning from Master Ventus, to move fast and escape from any danger before an enemy even realized they had been hurt. It was why Master Ventus was her master, after all.

But that didn't change the fact that he was a mean master right now!

Letting out another aggravated groan, Maia leaned against her bedroom window...only to look out and see Alexina down in the courtyard. She wasn't doing much, but still...Maia was curious and when Maia was curious…

Before the ruby haired girl knew what she was doing, she was standing in front of the seated Alexina , leaning down so her face was close to the other girl's.

She looked so peaceful, probably pretty deep in meditation...she was usually so uptight, that this was a surprise.

A mischievous smile grew on Maia's face…

And she screamed.

"LEXXIIIIIIIII!"

Directly into Alexina's face.

And just like Maia expected, Lexi's eyes snapped open as her body instinctively rolled away before she picked up the Xiphos that had been laid at her side and Maia suddenly found the weapon pointing at her neck.

"What...on Earth...possessed you to believe...such a thing was...a wise idea?" The warrior questioned, gritting her teeth and practically forcing the words out.

But Maia's face never changed. In fact…

"Pfffft...hahahaha! Hahaha!"

She started to laugh.

"Ur so kut! E lyh'd pameaja...hahahaha!" Maia sputtered, not thinking as she spoke. She felt Alexina lower her Xiphos, staring at her with cautious eyes.

"Maia...are you alright? Do you know who I am? Where you are?" The brunette questioned.

"Oac, oac." Maia shook her head, wiping the tears that had sprung to her eyes during her laughing fit as she straightened up. "I'm fine, you're Lexi and I'm on the Land of Departure!"

"That's...what was that language you spoke then?" Alexina asked. Maia was quiet for a moment as she studied her fellow apprentice.

But she couldn't find anything outside of honest curiosity, and a bit of concern, in Alexina's eyes. So she spoke.

"It's my home tongue, like how you speak Greek." Maia explained, tilting her head to the side and smiling slightly, trying to hide any sense of nervousness she felt.

"I see...I think it suits you." Alexina smiled the slightest bit herself and that alone caused Maia's smile to grow into a bright, closed eyed grin.

"Thanks! Hey! Hey! Since we're the only two here, you wanna go play something?" The ruby haired girl offered.

"'Play'?" Lexi repeated, looking confused.

"Yeah! That way, when you get your Keyblade, you can show us all how cool you are because you trained so much! Plus, we can play with Sil too!" Maia grinned, already feeling excitement coursing through her veins.

"Well...I suppose…" Alexina slowly agreed, still looking scared.

"Great! Let's go!" Maia cheered, grabbing the brunette's wrist and not giving her a chance to say no as she pulled her all the way to the dining hall where she knew for a fact Master Aqua had set up a section for Silva to finger paint for the day.

It was the perfect chance to play with Silva, tease Alexina, and train by using (safe) magic to manipulate the paint as it splattered on the walls!

If you asked Maia, it was totally a win-win situation!

And suddenly, being stuck home at the Land of Departure didn't seem so boring anymore…

Huh, how about that?

* * *

**Location:** Land of Heroes - Island

Some time had passed since Gia, Jack, and Riku faced against the large robot that ambushed them, but there was not another in sight while they walked through the jungle. In fact, there weren't even any guards to oppose them. Still, Riku kept his guard up to avoid being taken by surprise like that again. Gia was a little less vigilant, taking in the environment around them. She figured that if someone were to attack them, they would have by now. It was that carelessness that resulted in her becoming immobile and helpless as she had to watch Riku and Jack be surrounded by a glowing cyan aura.

"Well, well, if it isn't my little intruders. Seeing as how you three were able to take out the omnidroid, I figured you were way out of league for my guards. Still, you don't seem like all that much of a threat getting a good look at you up close."

Now that they were all restrained, the guards came out from behind the trees, ready to handcuff them.

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - New Orleans Square

The reverend continued marrying Naveen and Charlotte, reaching the "speak now or forever hold your peace" portion by the time Sari and Ray reached the float. Sari had climbed onto the base undetected but that was as far as she could go without being seen by Charlotte or the other humans higher up. The rest was up to Ray to find out what was going on. As the firefly approached Naveen's ear, he asked, "Cap, what you doin', son?"

This startled Naveen, making him swat Ray away. Sari could see what was going on and found this odd. What she couldn't see was a long tongue sticking out of the keyhole of a small chest that sat right behind Naveen. The prince noticed this and maliciously stepped on it. The tongue slithered back through the keyhole, but not before Ray could catch a glimpse of it. The firefly hovered down to the keyhole and asked, "Is that you, Cap?"

"Ray! Get me out of this box!" It was Naveen!

Ray responded, "I can't hear you! I'm gon' get you out this box!" He then proceeded to adjust his antennae and flip himself upside down to properly fit through the keyhole. Who needed a Keyblade when you could make yourself the key, after all?

The reverend finally reached the end of the ceremony. All he needed to do was pronounce the imposter and Charlotte as man and wife, but before he could finish the statement, the chest opened and the real Naveen sprang out of it. The imposter was blindsided and lost his balance, tumbling down to the ground. It was then that Sari could clearly see Naveen, still in his frog form.

Charlotte called down to the imposter, "Oh goodness gracious! Are you alright?"

The man responded, "I just need a moment to compose myself." His voice was clearly not Naveen's, giving Sari's mind certainty that this man had used magic of some sort to impersonate the prince. The imposter quickly grabbed Naveen and made a break for a nearby chapel door. Sari and Ray followed, but only the latter could fit underneath the doorway. Sari would have to find another entrance or somewhere private to revert back to human form.

As Ray entered the chapel, he heard a man with a tophat yell, "Get your royal rump back on that wedding cake and finish this deal!"

Before the imposter could respond, Naveen expanded his throat to free himself long enough to yank a necklace off of the young man...or rather, old man. Ray quickly deduced that the necklace was voodoo, only making this stout fat man look like the tall, young, well-built prince.

The tall, lanky man shouted, "What's he doing?! Stop him!"

Naveen managed to kick the necklace over to Ray, who caught it, but was not strong enough to carry it by himself. That's when the doors flung open revealing Sari with her normal appearance.

"Get out!" the tall man snapped. "This area is restricted!"

Sari picked up both Ray and the necklace, taking note of Naveen in the fat man's grasp. She looked from the captor to the tall man. He wore a suit and tophat, but his shirt was undone and the tophat had a white skull and crossbones painted on it. Combined with the fanged necklace he wore, the man's entire ensemble gave Sari the suspicion that he was the Shadow Man she had been hearing so much about. Sari straightened her posture and said, "I'll leave once you give me my little friend back."

The tall man fixed his shirt and offered a sly grin as he said, "That can be arranged. I'll be needing that necklace in exchange. It's very important to me."

Both Naveen and Ray shouted, "No!"

Naveen explained, "That necklace has the power to make Lawrence-" He was cut off by wrinkled fingers. Sari put the rest of it together, considering the behaviors these men were displaying. She also deduced that the man holding Naveen was Lawrence. After all, he was wearing the exact same outfit she saw Naveen in earlier.

"Why do you two need this? What could you possibly gain from all of this?"

The Shadow Man, better known as Dr. Facilier, pulled on his open-collar shirt, sliding into a calm demeanor as he explained, "Lawrence and I are financial partners, if you will, and we need that there charm to finish our deal, but if you're going to be a hindrance to us…" With the snap of his fingers, several Darkball Heartless appeared around himself and Lawrence, the latter of which cried in fear and hid behind a pew.

Guiding Gladiolus appeared in Sari's hand as she took her battle stance, keeping Ray and the necklace close to her. Dr. Facilier's eyes widened with realization as he said, "So you're with him." A grin formed on the Shadow Man's face while he chuckled to himself.

Sari's brow furrowed with curiosity. "Him? Do you mean Rickson? Where is he?!"

Dr. Facilier held his hands up as if to slow her down. "Hold on, now. There's no point in telling a dead girl, now is there?" He spoke to the Heartless with a kind of familiarity as he said, "Alright boys, why don't you show our guest some southern hospitality?"

The Darkballs flew forward, their snapping jaws threatening to rip through Sari's flesh. In response, the girl used her Barrier and Counter Blast combination to blow back the incoming enemies. As the transparent shards flew out, they sliced into the floor and walls, almost piercing Lawrence's face, making the man squeal frightfully. Dr. Facilier on the other hand was saved by a Darkball that intercepted the attack for him.

Sari couldn't believe her eyes. She'd seen people call forth the Heartless, only to be consumed by the darkness and become one themselves, but Dr. Facilier was pulling the strings. "He doesn't just summon the Heartless...he c-can control them. Who are you?"

Dr. Facilier laughed and said, "Why, little missy, I am nothing but a humble fortune teller. And these…" The man slammed the tip of his cane against the ground, producing a radial array of shadows that stretched throughout the room and rose against the walls. As the shadows rose, Sari and Ray could see that they took monstrous shapes with sharp teeth and claws. Dr. Facilier concluded by saying, "...are my friends on the other side, and thanks to your friend, they're here to stay!" The Shadow Man threw his head back in hysterical laughter while the dark beings joined him.

"So you're using him…"

Ray could hear the pain in her voice. "Marguerite…"

"Ray, find Tiana and get this as far away as you can from here. I'll hold them off."

The firefly took hold of the necklace and flapped his tiny wings as fast as they could move, struggling to hold the item on his own. Despite this, he agreed to do as Sari said. The shadow covering the door, did not, though. Ray grimaced at the silhouette as he lit up and flew straight against the wall, eradicating the shadow creature.

As Ray flew down to slip underneath the door, Dr. Facilier yelled, "No! Stop him!"

"I won't let you!" Sari yelled as she channeled light energy into her Keyblade. She leapt back against the door and pointed her weapon upwards. "Sparkga!" A light crystal formed at the tip before splitting off into three, which whirled around her rapidly, each creating a ring of light that vaporized any of the shadows that dared to near her.

Dr. Facilier's dark violet eyes were cold with killer instinct. "Fine then!" He spat angrily. "Friends! Give me your power!" The remaining shadows in the room retreated to their master, spiraling around him in a violent twister of pitch black. The entire room began to brighten up with strong neon colors and as the twister came to a halt, Dr. Facilier's face was revealed to have changed above his lips, now covered by a skull-like mask.

Sari could tell that the man was different from a moment ago. While it's true that his heart was full of darkness before, it now felt as if it were a dark void, sucking in all of the light around him.

"Are you ready?!" He bellowed as he set his foot down, sending forth a shadow towards Sari.

Sari prepared a Barrier but the shadow slipped underneath it and uppercutted her with its thin claws. The girl fell to the ground with a groan, but she quickly picked herself back up in time to roll away from the next attack. Dr. Facilier kept sending his shadows towards Sari but she continued to evade and slash through them whenever they got too close.

At the first opportunity she was given, Sari charged forward and swung her Keyblade only for Dr. Facilier to block it with his cane. Though he was very slender, the man was able to hold back the toned girl, even when she pressed forward with all the might her lean muscles could muster. Acknowledging that she would not defeat him in a battle of brute strength, Sari planted the ball of her foot on the ground and pushed off, allowing her to swivel on her other foot and deliver a quick slash to the madman's shoulder.

Dr. Facilier staggered from the hit, but regained his balance thanks to one of the shadows catching him and pushing him back towards Sari. The man glared at her with glowing violet eyes as he growled with frustration. "Little girl, you have no idea of the power I have now."

The Shadow Man twirled his cane and caught it upright, pointing at the girl. The orb began to glow and suddenly, Sari found herself rolling on the ground to avoid a violet fireball. A shadowy limb sprang up, trying to slash through her but Sari moved her head to evade. She then retaliated with a slash of her own before pointing her Keyblade at Dr. Facilier. As the man fired another wisp, she shot a bright sphere of light. The two attacks collided in an explosion, golden rays cracking through the dark shroud around it.

This created an opening for one of Dr. Facilier's shadows to strike Sari and pin her to a wall. The man laughed now that he had the girl right where he wanted her. Sari kicked and struggled in its hold, but she could not free herself.

Dr. Facilier laughed as he prepared a fireball to end the girl. As the projectile flew towards Sari, the girl quickly created a Barrier and used her goto maneuver, blasting back several shards. This time, one struck Dr. Facilier's cheek, forcing the man to break concentration long enough for Sari to slice through the shadow with a reverse grip. As she descended to the ground, the redhead charged up a Pearl spell and hurled it forward with all her might. As the sphere connected with Dr. Facilier, it expanded, consuming him in a radiant light that burned the shadows away from his being. The chapel lit up like a tiny star was born inside of it, but the light eventually faded leaving Dr. Facilier to drop to his knees, barely able to support himself with his cane.

Sari walked over to him and asked, "Where do you have him? Please. I need to know."

Tired violet eyes drifted up to meet Sari's. "You ain't ever finding out." Dr. Facilier reached into his coat pocket and threw something to the floor. Whatever it was, it exploded into a violet shroud, making Sari cough as she tried to fan away the smoke from her eyes. When it cleared, the voodoo man was gone and so was her last chance of finding Rickson.

All Sari could do was stare at the spot where Dr. Facilier used to be unable to process her feelings. She felt everything. Sadness, anger, frustration, and guilt just to name a few. As she fell to her knees, Sari bowed her head in defeat and let out a weak sigh. Her eyes closed for a moment while she tried to collect herself and keep her emotions in check, reminding herself that darkness waits for moments like this to enter one's heart.

Sari lifted her head, rose to her feet, and took a deep breath. It wasn't over. After all, she knew that Rickson was at least on this world. That explains why so many powerful Heartless had been appearing. This gave her the hope she needed to press forward. After all, Dr. Facilier was still on the loose and she needed to find him.

As Sari began walking towards the exit, she heard a pew move. She turned around with Keyblade in hand for another fight, but it was just Lawrence.

"Oh dear, where did he go?" the man asked himself.

"Lose something?"

Lawrence squealed and got down to the floor, hoping to avoid her. After all, someone who could best Dr. Facilier with all of his sorcery was bad news for him.

Sari walked down the aisle and stopped when she reached his row. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you."

Lawrence's eyes opened when he heard her gentle voice. "Y-you're not?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I'm just looking for my friend. You work with the Shadow Man. I think he has a friend of mine. Do you know where he might be?"

The old man stood up and shook his head. "Afraid not. I don't exactly work with Dr. Facilier. Well, I do, b-but…" Lawrence sighed, "It's complicated."

"It's not really. You wanted Prince Naveen's life and Dr. Facilier could give that to you. That's why you needed that talisman. Am I right?" Lawrence answered with a nod. "And he turned Naveen into a frog to get him out of the way so you could marry Charlotte Labouff. But why? What did he gain out of this?"

"I-I promised the doctor that I would g-give him part of the Labouff fortune when Big Daddy passed away."

"Greed. That figures," she said with a sigh. "So there really isn't anywhere that Dr. Facilier might be keeping my friend?"

Lawrence rubbed his chin and thought to himself, "Well…"

Sari's eyes widened with hope. "If there is, you have to tell me! Please!" When the redhead realized she was invading Lawrence's personal space, she took a step back, but continued looking at him with a pleading look that was difficult for him to ignore.

"I could only think of one."

* * *

**Location:** Land of Heroes - Island

The trio of Keyblade Wielders found themselves trapped, their arms and legs restrained by these metal spheres connected by electrical chains to an oval-shaped machine. They were unable to summon their weapons with their hands restrained, and worst of all, electric shocks were delivered to them every time the masked man before them disliked one of their answers.

"You people just won't talk, will you?" he asked. This was the very man that captured them with the strange cyan-colored energy beams from before. He wore some sort of spandex suit with a blue cape and a set of white boots and gloves, but the most peculiar thing about him was his gravity-defying orange hair that would put even Sora's to shame.

Riku tried to catch his breath, having just felt the sting of a powerful shock course through his body. "I told you. We aren't these 'supers' that you keep talking about."

"Oh, I know. You three can't do anything without those strange, and very impractical-looking, weapons you had earlier, which miraculously disappeared. Look, I don't care who you're working for, but what I do care about is getting my hands on those weapons so you better start talking or you're all going to fry."

The man's crystal blue eyes were filled with a rage Riku had not seen in a long time. He had been wronged by someone and now carried that pain, allowing it to consume him. It wouldn't be long before his heart gave in to the darkness. The captor seemed to grow impatient by Riku's silence, so he directed his attention to one of the guards operating the computer and gave the order to turn up the voltage.

"Wait!"

The orange-haired man stopped his guard and looked over to Riku with distruful anticipation. "Go on…"

"I'll show you our weapons."

"You'll show me where you left them?"

"We didn't leave them anywhere. That's why you men haven't been able to come up with anything. Only we can summon them."

"Summon? You mean they warp into your hands?"

"Yes."

The man was getting visibly frustrated as he said, "Wait! You mean to tell me you guys figured out teleportation technology?! No! No! NO! NO! Unbelievable! And you say that only you three can warp them?"

Riku was put off by how excited the man was now. He was cautious as he repeated himself, "Yes…"

"Then that means…" Blue eyes went wide with realization. "They're bonded to your DNA!" Then came hysterical laughter, but he was the only one doing so. Gia, Jack, and Riku all remained quiet and the guards seemed to just ignore it. It was just a part of the job they had seemingly become accustomed to. When the man's laughter finally came to an end, he was much calmer as he spoke to his employees. "We'll dissect them in the morning to find out how they make those incredible weapons appear. Don't let them out of your sight."

"You can't leave us here!"

All eyes turned to the lone woman in the room. "I-I can't stay here. I can't die here. I-I won't!" Suddenly a bright light sparked in Gia's chest. It grew brighter and brighter, and soon, that same light shined from her eyes and mouth. She stopped struggling to free herself and calmly stated, "You will free me." Several spheres of white light formed around her, one of which grew larger than the others, shining brighter and brighter. The radiant glow grew to the point of practically blinding anyone who looked into it. The others in the room closed their eyes and looked the other way, but somehow the light still reached them.

Riku tried to call to her, "Gia! You have to control your emotions!" A dark aura began to shroud him, sprouting from his heart and spreading all around his body.

No one could see what happened next, but there were flashes of heat and the sound of machinery exploding.

"What's going on?!" the redhead yelled as holes in his vision shrunk and grew.

The first person to regain his vision was Riku, but he could not believe what he saw. A beast-like creature with flames for fur and large horns sprouting from its temple stood over Gia's body, but it didn't seem like it wanted to hurt her. It was protecting her. In fact, the machine that restrained Gia was completely destroyed.

"Free us!" Riku called. "We're her allies! We want to keep her safe too! If you don't those men will kill her."

The monstrous creature looked back and forth between Riku and the other men, unsure of whether to trust him. Its gaze fell to Gia with an endearing look on its face.

"I know her sister," Riku said. "Lia...she's my apprentice. I care about them both."

That seemed to reach the beast as it nodded and went to destroy both Riku and Jack's prisons. When the redhead finally regained his vision, he was met with not only Braveheart, but also the growling face of an atrocious-looking monster. He squealed with fear, dropping on his backside as the fiery creature stood over him.

"S-so, uh...I was just about to let you all go now, mhm!" He wore a forced smile as he practically pleaded for his life.

"Not yet," Riku responded. "We didn't come to this island looking for trouble. We're just looking for some friends. Do you know where they are? One is a girl with red hair and two different colored eyes, the other is a boy with violet hair and golden eyes."

"I promise you that if I knew where they were, I would tell you, buuuut, I don't. So, I would really appreciate it if you guys just left my island."

Riku nodded. "Fair enough. But if I find out that my apprentices were here. I'm coming back for you." He turned to lift Gia and walked towards the exit. "Come on Jack, we're done here."

"Yes sir," the dwarf said as he followed behind obediently.

The monster watched as Riku carried Gia away, then looked at the small man below him and gave one final growl, which elicited another squeal, before leaving as well.

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - New Orleans Square

Sari ran through the city streets, slashing away at any Heartless that stood in her way. The darkness only grew stronger with each step, spawning more creatures of darkness to defend the source they came from. Sari knew she was on the right track since there were more and more enemies appearing in her way. She just needed to push through the hordes of Heartless that tried to impede her.

The redhead rounded a corner and stepped into a small courtyard, teeming with the foul stench of darkness. On the far side, was a door with a sign above it that read, "Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium," but a pool of black liquid bubbled in the center between her and the door. It bubbled and festered until a whirling tower of Shadow Heartless sprung from it. As the Demon Tower rotated, it moved around the area, struggling to balance itself until it locked onto Sari and sped forward towards her.

Sari quickly rolled out of harm's way, only to be engulfed by a sea of black and yellow. The demon tide had parted as it crashed into a wall, allowing the small monsters to scurry about the area, clawing at Sari every opportunity they got which was plenty considering that the girl was defenseless on the ground.

It was difficult to concentrate with so many tiny claws digging into her skin, but Sari managed to focus long enough to cast a Sparkra spell. Two shining crystals spun around her, vaporizing any Shadows that they made contact with. Unable to get close to her, the tiny monsters reformed into the Demon Tower.

Sari had taken quite a few scratches. None were very deep, but they were all over her body, stinging harshly because of her sweat. Her breath was growing heavier with each exhale, an indication of her fatigue. She struggled to stand up straight through the pain and exhaustion but she needed to continue pressing forward. After all, the darkness would not give her the opportunity to catch her breath.

The Demon Tower curled over towards Sari to engulf her into the vortex but she quickly threw up a Barrier around her to deflect the attack. The Shadows slammed into the transparent shield and bounced off, falling out of coordination again to swarm around her. Sari's Counter Blast struck most of the enemies that scurried near her, but there was still a large nest of them all around her so she erected a new Barrier immediately.

Though she continued to strike down many Heartless, it seemed as though the Demon Tower never ran out of drones. This is getting me nowhere. I need to destroy it from the inside… An idea appeared in Sari's head, but it was one she felt nervous about. She did not have anything else up her sleeve though, so as the Demon Tower leaned forward to engulf her, the girl allowed it to. She received plenty more wounds as the monsters clawed at her smooth skin. She had to keep her eyes shut to protect them from getting clawed out, but they still scratched her eye lids, harming her, nonetheless. Sari raised her Keyblade over her head and yelled, "Pearl!" A sphere of light formed on the tip of her blade and exploded, burning the dark creatures. The Demon Tower exploded apart, leaving a few stragglers spread throughout the area. Sari fell to the floor, landing awkwardly on her arm which made her cry out in pain. "Ahhh!"

Sari tilted her head off to the side to look at her Keyblade laid on the ground. She tried to call it back to her hand but her arm would not reach out to it. In fact, it burned with pain when she tried to move it. The girl let out a frustrated sigh at the realization that she'd sprained her dominant arm. As her head rolled to the other side, she saw the Shadows approach her with caution. They would soon realize that she could not get up and move in for the kill so she had to act quickly. With her free arm, Sari reached into her item pouch and pulled out a bottle of a vibrant blue liquid. She quickly bit down on the cap and twisted it, spilling some of the Potion on herself, but she spat the cap out and drank from the bottle as fast as she could. The Shadows leapt into the air but were quickly cut down as Guiding Gladiolus flashed into Sari's nondominant hand and she swung it in a wide arc. The girl was now crouched low with her left arm still limp and sore. Though it was not fully injured anymore, it still felt weak and tender.

Sari looked off to the right, finding one lone Shadow rocking back and forth, unsure of whether to strike. The girl slowly stood up with shaky legs, leaning on her Keyblade to keep herself from toppling over. Once she'd gotten up onto her legs, she slowly walked over to the Heartless and closed her eyes as she pressed the weapon into it with her body weight behind the thrust. Now there weren't any Heartless. It was just her in that courtyard and the unknown through the door to Dr. Facilier's shop.

With a heavy sigh, Sari forced herself forward pushing through the pain that laced up her body despite having healed her wounds with her Potion. Sari needed to keep pushing if she was going to put an end to Dr. Facilier's reign on the city of New Orleans, and she was so close. She dragged her feet, pouring as much strength as she could into her legs to make them move as she approached the entrance to the magic shop.

The inside was pitch black, so Sari lit the way with her Keyblade, revealing that the shop was littered with dusty books and antiques that Dr. Facilier most likely kept around to provide his business with an ambiance of mystery. She proceeded with caution, wary of any yellow eyes that might peer through the dark corners of the room, but as she neared the back of the shop, the room seemed to light itself on its own. At that moment, a tear almost broke from Sari's eye when she caught sight of an unconscious Rickson, sitting tied to a chair in the middle of the room.

She called out to him, "Rickson!" and ran forward only to be sucker punched by one of the small totems that hung on the back wall. Its eyes glowed purple and a green aura surrounded it as it levitated back to its original spot. The largest totem grinned down maliciously at Sari. With a spark in its eyes, the curtains closed behind her on their own, preventing escape even when Sari attempted to cut through them with her Keyblade. There seemed to be some sort of protective magic around the room.

Sari could hear laughter behind her, so she turned to find that the totems were all floating off of the wall, except for the one in the middle, the large horned one. "You're the source of his power, aren't you?" Sari asked. "And you're using my boyfriend like some battery pack!"

She did not get a response. Instead, the smaller totems flew at her. Sari swiftly moved around the room to avoid their direct attacks. Though their movements were not complex by any stretch of the imagination, they made up for this weakness with their numbers, which kept Sari on her toes. The ones that she couldn't dodge she batted away with Guiding Gladiolus, putting as much strength as her slender arm could muster behind each swing. She missed a few swings because she was not used to using her right arm, which left her open to a few hits.

The large totem laughed as his underlings continued to apply pressure, keeping the redhead from reaching her ally. By this point, the smaller totems had circled Sari and all moved in at the same time since she could not dodge. What they did not count on was Sari having a complete defense. Just as she was about to be stricken from every side, the girl used her Barrier and Counter Blast. The small totems flew back, spinning uncontrollably as some crashed against the strange magical wall that enclosed them all. This created the opportunity for Sari to make a break for Rickson, but swirling green winds whisked him away into the large totem's mouth.

"NO!" Sari reached out for him but the totem's sharp fangs closed down, inches from cleaving her fingers off. Her outstretched hand curled into a fist. She was so close to Rickson, but even then, he slipped through her fingers.

Sari jumped back and took her fighting stance, taking note of the smaller totems returning to surround her. The redhead was getting frustrated and even desperate, but she remembered the lessons Aqua taught her. She controlled her breathing as she told herself, "Rage blinds. It will make me careless and carelessness is a weakness."

Though the small totems could have begun attacking again, they waited, so Sari did too. She intended on watching them carefully and waited for an opening to attack. Her eyes narrowed uneasily as the horned totem opened its mouth, releasing six slithering shadows, each of which made its way to the other totems. The evil wooden creatures seemed to be transforming, sprouting arms and legs that were dark and liquidy like ink. Their new bodies resembled those of Neo Shadow Heartless with a dark violet tint that matched the eerie light in their eyes.

Sari stood patiently as the Heartless danced around her. Their shuffling movements were intended to confuse her before attempting to go in for the kill. Despite her muscles screaming in pain from the fight she endured to get to this point and her lungs were thirsty for oxygen, Sari managed to stabilize her breathing, inhaling and exhaling through her nose. She channeled the little bit of magical power left inside her, concentrating on her goal of rescuing Rickson from that demon before her.

A faint pink aura surfaced around Sari, cloaking her in a thin layer of light. Though the large totem found this strange, it did not fear her, so the two Totem Shadows behind her lunged. As they swung their claws, Sari quickly whipped around, guiding her Keyblade with telepathy to slice through them like a buzz saw. Another enemy went in to strike, but Sari parried the blow by spinning her weapon in front of her, emitting a small blast of light that made it cry out in agony.

Sari turned to find only three left and all three were hesitant to strike. The large totem seemed impatient and annoyed by their reluctance so it commanded them to attack with a menacing growl. As the Totem Shadows rushed her, Sari began spinning, kicking up a small whirlwind of light around her that struck the enemies like whips and tore them to shreds.

As the girl came to a stop, the pink glow faded from her skin, but she had vanquished all of the Heartless, leaving her alone with the horned totem, which continued grinning at her as he unleashed another wave of Heartless. Before the Neo Shadows could surround her, Sari charged forward and leapt into the air, thrusting her Keyblade forward. The tip connected with the totem's forehead, creating cracks that spread throughout its face. Sari had a sliver of magical power left in her, but she somehow dug into pools of strength that she did not even know existed to expel the most powerful Spark spell that she could. The totem roared in pain, its eyes glowing with the white light from Sari's weapon, until a powerful shockwave blasted her away.

Sari raised her head as she lay on the floor to find the totem releasing Rickson from the green vortex in its mouth, all the while struggling with the painful light that coursed through it. It glared at Sari angrily before exploding into many pieces, releasing a swarm of shadows to whirl around the room. Sari leapt to cover Rickson's body with her own, but the shadows never attacked. Instead, they all just disappeared off somewhere else, leaving the girl confused.

Minutes passed, but the shadows did not come back to finish them off. Sari worried that the demons or Heartless would strike at any moment, so she knew she needed to get Rickson away from Dr. Facilier's shop. She looped her arms under Rickson's and pulled his upper body, but could not move him much in her weakened state. As Sari yanked him, she lost her balance and switched with Rickson finding herself laying underneath him now. She let out a huff, the fatigue overwhelming her body and preventing her from moving so she just laid there still.

"Sari?"

Her eyes had closed but quickly snapped open when she heard a familiar voice, her head also flicking up. A pair of lost golden eyes looked back at her.

"R-Rickson? Rickson!" Sari's eyes watered with happiness as she embraced her boyfriend, holding him tightly as she yelled, "You're awake!"

As the girl let go of him, Rickson chuckled and said, "Yeah, for the most part. I'm feeling drained, though. What happened?"

They say upright, both feeling weak from their ordeals.

"I'm not surprised you feel that way. A madman was using you to feed these demonic pets of his. They unleashed all these Heartless throughout the world, but it looks like they're gone for now."

While Sari dug through her item pouch, Rickson looked her up and down, taking note of her condition and a pang of guilt struck him. Without even asking her, he knew that she had gotten scrapes on her skin and her outfit was tattered because of, what he could only imagine to be, mobs of Heartless that this madman must have unleashed with his help. Rickson's eyes fell to his knees in remorse.

"Hello? Earth to Rickson?"

He looked over at the Hi-Potion sitting in Sari's hand, just staring at it for a moment.

Sari pushed it forward slightly and asked, "Well?"

His eyes floated up to meet hers, which were filled with concern for him. He ignored her question and instead asked one of his own. "Is that the last one?"

The girl was taken aback by his response and was not sure why he asked that, but she answered it anyway. "Yeah. We used the rest in the Carribean with Jack, except a Potion that I had to drink myself after I sprained my arm."

Rickson took one more good look at her before finally deciding to reject her offer. "No, you drink it. You got hurt because of me, after all."

"Don't mind all that. Just drink it," she said sweetly.

"Sari, I really think you shou-"

"Rickson, are you telling me I fought through hordes of Heartless, a demented voodoo witchdoctor, a demon tower, and a group of demonic totems, holding onto this Hi-Potion for you to drink only for you to turn it down?"

"Ngh!" Rickson sighed in defeat. She was not going to back down, anyway. "No, I suppose not." He took hold of the Hi-Potion and removed the cork on top allowing a minty scent to fill his nose.

"Besides, who's supposed to carry me with their strong arms if you can't even stand up by yourself?"

Rickson cracked a smile and rolled his eyes as he drank down some of the mystical liquid. He looked over at the girl, who had been looking down as she flexed her left arm which still felt a bit tender. Seeing as she was distracted, an idea popped into Rickson's head. Without any warning, Rickson slipped his arm behind Sari's back and pulled her in for a kiss. If she did not want to drink the Hi-Potion, then they were going to share it.

Sari's eyes went wide from the suddenness of it all, but once she realized what was happening, she gave in and kissed him back, knowing full well what he was up to. When the two parted, Sari wiped a small drop of the minty liquid that was trailing on the edge of her mouth. "You're so stubborn," she said with an eye roll, while trying to hide her blush.

Rickson jabbed in response, "You're one to talk. So, where are we? And where's Jack?"

"I'm not exactly sure what this world is called but we can check that on the map. Which reminds me! We need to call Jack! Sweetie, can you call him on your Gummi Phone?"

As he searched for it in his back pocket, Rickson asked, "What happened to yours?"

"It fell into a swamp?"

"Are you making that up?"

"The truth is I don't know. I remember trying to call for help as we fell into this world's atmosphere but I couldn't find it when I woke up."

"So you lost it."

She sighed and said, "Yes. But the good news is that you still have yours!"

Almost as soon as Rickson hit send, the screen flashed to show Jack's face. His eyes were wide with excitement as he called out to Riku, without even saying hello to Sari and Rickson. "Master Riku! It's Rickson and Sari! They're okay!"

Riku appeared on the screen beside Jack, a look of relief on his face. He looked tired like he hadn't gotten much sleep. "You two are alright?"

"Yes, Master," Sari responded with a smile. "We're sorry to have worried you so much."

Riku just looked glad to see they were okay. "It's alright. Send us your coordinates so we can pick you up. We'll call when we get there."

"Yes, Master," they said in unison.

Riku smiled and said, "We'll be sure to report back to Master Aqua to let her know you're both alright. If you guys can, try to find some place to rest in the meantime. It really is good to see you two are okay."

"Likewise," Rickson responded. "Thank you for looking for us." At that moment, the young man's face went serious as he said, "Master…"

"What is it?"

"Please be careful, yourself. I know you're very strong, but the people that attacked us...they might have allies."

"Hey, you don't think it's weird that they didn't come after us?" Sari asked. "The entire time we've been on this world I never once ran into them."

"That stranger that saved me must've run them off," Jack commented.

"That must've been Cloud, Tifa's husband," the master explained. "The men you three encountered must be who Cloud is after and when it comes to fighters, he's no joke. Still, I don't blame Tifa for worrying about him, considering that we know very little about who we're facing. I also don't think it's a coincidence that these men attacked you while you were following a trail of missing materia."

"Do you think they're the ones behind this?" Rickson asked.

Sari concurred with Riku and said, "It makes sense. I mean, they did attack us unprovoked. I don't see why else they would've attacked unless they wanted us off the trail."

Riku finished his thought by saying, "They're most definitely involved, but we can't be sure if they're the ones behind this entire plot. We don't even know what they're goals are, but we're sure to find out if we keep following the rabbit trail. Still, we can't ignore that the others on the RLS Legacy may run into them."

"The what?" Rickson asked.

"We'll explain when we see you," Riku said. "We'll see you two soon." The call clicked leaving Sari and Rickson alone in the dark magic shop.

Rickson slowly got up to a crouching position in front of Sari, which confused her. "What?" she asked.

"Need a lift?"

That's when Sari remembered her joke from earlier. The sentiment made her smile from ear to ear as she nodded. "Yeah!" She stood up and slipped her legs under his arms, leaning against his back as he stood up and carried her out of the shop.

* * *

**Location:** New Orleans - The Swamp

When Sari and Rickson met up with Tiana, Naveen, and Louis, they heard the bad news that Ray had been crushed by Dr. Facilier, which brought Sari to tears. She felt that he didn't deserve to die, especially after getting to know such a kind soul so she asked if they were doing anything to pay their respects to him. Tiana told her that they agreed that he should be with his family so the five of them went to the swamp.

While there, Rickson noticed that Sari was not putting up a fuss over water getting into her boots or the skirt of her battle dress soaking in murky water. All things considered, he understood why, so he chose not to tease her about it. In fact, everyone was silent during the entire march through the wetlands. Rickson didn't even stop to question how an alligator was playing the trumpet as three fireflies laid the leaf Ray rested on in the water.

As the leaf was pushed off into the morning mist, Sari and Rickson bowed their heads. The redhead laid hers against the young man's neck as she pressed her clenched fist against her chest. "May your heart by your guiding key," she whispered.

Tiana gasped as something caught her eye in the sky and the others soon noticed a bright light shining down from above. Rickson nudged Sari and said, "Babe, look."

As Sari's eyes opened to look up into the sky, she saw Evangeline, but unlike before, the brightest star now had a companion. Another light twinkled alongside her, growing larger and brighter until the two were equal in their brilliance.

"Ray," Sari said with tears in her eyes. "His heart...it was so strong it was reborn as a new world."

Rickson smiled down at her, rubbed her shoulder, and planted a kiss atop her head. He could tell that she had been through a lot and that Ray was someone she genuinely cared for despite only knowing the firefly for about a day. It was because of this that Rickson too was happy to see that Ray would live on in the universe, breathing new life. That pleasant thought came, at a cost though, reminding Rickson of the very nature of his own heart. While Ray would bring life and fruition, he would only bring death and destruction. Rickson's jaw clenched, which Sari took note of.

The redhead looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Rickson feigned a smile. "Nothing, sweetie." He pulled her closer against him, gently rubbing her shoulder as he kissed her forehead. This brought some ease to Sari's worries as she rested her head against his neck again, but she knew that it wasn't "nothing."

* * *

**Wolfie: So. MANY. WORDS! I was not joking when I said this chapter was monstrous, it beat our longest chapter (chapter 1, btw) by topping at 12,443 words without ANs. **

**Also, Legacy and I have been losing our collective minds over Melody of Memory AND Dark Road, no joke. And, if any of you remember back when Strelitzia's death was first shown in UX, can you tell how happy I am that we got to include her here? The idea is credited to Antex, thanks a bunch!**

**Now, Maia's Al Bhed translations are right here! She says, in order:**

**"Oh my god! I can't believe..."**

**"Yes, yes."**

**And, finally, I am going to announce that the SYOC of this story is officially closed! We'll open it up again come Book 2, in case we need more Reapers and Ninjas!**

**I think that's everything...let us know what you thought! And may your heart be your guiding key!**


	10. Chapter 10:Lia Report 98

**Legacy's A/N: Surprise! I bet you didn't see this coming! Well, you all have Antex to thank for this because today is his birthday! We've been able to get a little bit ahead in writing these chapters (though that may change when school starts) so we decided to put out this short little chapter ahead of schedule as a thank you to Antex for being such an awesome reader. You really do motivate us to keep writing and put out the best work we possibly can. But between you guys, and me, Wolfie was the one to suggest putting out this chapter for Antex's birthday so you guys should also give them a huge thanks!**

**Wolfie: I think Legacy covered the reasoning behind this update pretty well! Happy birthday, Antex! Of course, I'll have to warn you guys that the next update won't be until sometime in September (not sure when, so please be patient with us :)), but this should hold you over in the meantime!**

**Thanks to ShadowWolf223 (Thank you!) and Antex-the Legendary Zoroark (As always, thank you so much!) for reviewing, all 9 followers, 7 favorites and 823 readers!**

**Not much else to say, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Lia Report #98**

* * *

_Dear Gia,_

_It's been sometime since we last split up. I hope you're behaving for Master Riku. Remember: he is __not_ _Master Lea, __do not_ _disrespect him._

_Let's see...I've been on the Legacy this whole time. We have yet to reach Treasure Planet, even after sailing for several weeks. I think you'd be pretty bored if you were here, the Legacy is as fast as Uncle Cid's airships, fast, but not faster than a Gummi ship. Though, you might actually prefer it, considering how well you reacted to the warp gummi._

_Anyways, it's been a busy few weeks. I'm not fully sure where to begin…_

_Well, I guess I should start with me then. I've been working mostly with the first mate of the Legacy, Mr. Arrow. He looks scary, as in you would want to fight him on sight, but he's actually quite nice. But if the crew starts causing trouble, he stops it right away. He's like Master Aqua actually...it's comforting to work with him, to put it another way. We talk often of home and the worlds he knows of, it's been enjoyable for the most part._

_Then there's Tifa, she was assigned as a bodyguard to Dr. Doppler, who paid for the whole expedition we joined. Dr. Doppler seems extremely flighty from what she tells me, often getting lost in his own ideas even as he's speaking about them to somebody else. She's had to save him from falling down the stairs from the upper deck to the lower deck quite a few times now. I don't know how he has yet to break his neck, even if he does have such a ridiculous suit to protect him. You'd laugh if you saw it, Gia. It's utterly ridiculous. Not even Uncle Cid would wear something like that. He'd make fun of it for how inefficient it is, actually. But it seems she enjoys talking to him. She tells him stories about Denzel and Marlene often. They're her children._

_As for Ryo, he's adapting pretty well. He spends most of his day working with Jim, the only other human boy on this ship, while answering to Mr. Silver, a cyborg cook if you can believe it or not. I'm sure you've had your experiences with machines. It seems that they have all grown close. If Ryo isn't with us or Jim, he's usually with Morph, a little glob(?) I suppose that follows Mr. Silver around. It's quite adorable, actually. I think this is actually pretty good for Ryo. It seems like he fits well with Jim. I'm really glad, I know he still feels a bit like an outsider with all of us, so it's nice to see him getting along with someone his own age._

_Now, Marta...she's in the crow's nest most of the time, playing look-out. I say playing because if she isn't dozing off, she's surprising anyone and everyone by dropping down on them from above. Mr. Silver and Morph love her, but the other crew members, like the cockroach, Mr. Scroop, don't seem to enjoy her at all. I keep an eye on her, of course, keep her out of any trouble. Mr. Arrow helps too, doesn't let anyone hurt her. Surprisingly, he said that having a bit of harmless fun onboard never hurt anyone. I say surprisingly because of how stern he seems when you first meet him._

_So far, it's been a relaxing mission. But I have no idea how long something like this could last._

_I have a bad feeling about what's ahead._

_Especially considering the "episode" I just had. Gia, I hope you're okay. Please be okay. To be honest, that's what prompted me to write this. Of course, you won't be able to read this until we reunite. I just hope that won't be too long from now._

_Anyways, I hope you've had luck with finding Sari and Rickson by now, it's so hard to get a signal on the Gummiphone out here...we haven't seen anything of the attackers Jack mentioned, nor Cloud. I can tell Tifa's worried, we all are. But we'll do our best. I hope we'll meet up soon._

_Please, stay safe._

_Love,_

_Lia._

* * *

**Wolfie: Different, isn't it? Basically, this is DD's form of Secret Reports, letters the twins send each other! The numbers for the reports are based on how many letters each individual twin has sent to the other (so Lia has sent 98 now, while Gia has a completely different number). They'll pop up every once in a while to cover time skips, give some foreshadowing and other stuff. So keep an eye out for them!**

**Leave a review to let us know what you thought and everyone stay safe! The next chapter is gonna be amazing, trust me! Look forward to it!**

**May your heart be your guiding key!**


End file.
